


Forever and A Day

by E_Hiiragizawa



Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [3]
Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: Action & Romance, Drama & Romance, F/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28990422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Hiiragizawa/pseuds/E_Hiiragizawa
Summary: Sakura wants to learn more about the magic world by joining the council. After an incident, Sakura learns that her magic has the power to change her life and her future forever.
Relationships: Eriol Hiiragizawa/Kinomoto Sakura
Series: Sakura & Eriol: An Adventure [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126565
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 3rd in the series. Follows the events in "A Blessing and A Curse", set in the same universe. I decided to expand that world hat I've created for this series. Not beta'ed.

“Youth team?” Sakura asked Grace. Grace was Sakura’s English teacher when she first came to London 3 years ago. Eriol introduced them because Grace had worked as an ESL teacher for many years and was currently working as a translator at the council. Over the past few years, they had become good friends. In fact, Grace was Sakura’s only friend here in London.

Grace nodded. “For magicians aged 18 to 25. They have an audition and all.”

“An audition? What is that about though?” Sakura asked as she ate her fries.

“I don’t really know the details. It looks like they’re forming some teams consisting of young magicians, hence the name and the age limit.” Grace told Sakura.

“That’s interesting.” Sakura said thoughtfully. “Do you know how to register?”

“Well, you go to the council building and register, I guess. I’m not sure. Sorry. I heard about it in the cafeteria during lunch time. I thought you might know something about it, seeing you’re married to Lord Hiiragizawa and all.” Grace said.

Sakura frowned. Eriol would never tell her about this. He had been keeping her away from the council since the beginning, saying that he didn’t want her getting involved at all. He never talked about work and other than some basic information, Sakura didn’t know anything about the council. She did ask the guardians, but they didn’t tell her anything either, maybe because they didn’t want her to get involved too, or maybe they were under strict order from their Master not to tell her anything.

After lunch, Sakura went home, still thinking about it.

“What is the Youth team?” Sakura asked as she wiped down the table after dinner.

Eriol, who was rinsing the plates, paused. “Where did you hear that?” He asked and then said, “Grace.”

Sakura neither confirmed nor denied it. “What is it?” She turned to her husband.

“It’s a working title of a new project.” He said as he resumed rinsing the plates and putting them in the dishwasher.

“That is not what I’m asking and you know it.” Sakura glared at him.

Eriol sighed. “It’s John’s new project. He wants to recruit young magicians into the council, to introduce them to the magic world. So that they know what it’s all about and how to navigate through it. Hopefully, they’ll also be interested in working for the council in the future.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sakura brought the dishrag to the sink to rinse it.

“Because it’s not relevant to you.” He said simply as he put the last of the plates into the dishwasher, put in the detergent tablet, closed the door, and started it.

“It’s for magicians aged 18 to 25, right? Last time I checked, I’m within that age limit. I could also use some pointers about the magic world and how to navigate through it. I think it is relevant to me.” Sakura squeezed the excess water and put the rag to dry.

“I can teach you about the magic world and how to navigate through it. All these years, that’s exactly what I’ve been teaching you.”

“You said it yourself, you want me to learn from other people too. Why the sudden change of mind now?” Sakura turned to face him.

“This project is not for you. It’s for those who are new to the magic world. You, on the other hand, have some experience.” Eriol said patiently.

“There’s always something to learn. Everyone has something to offer. Isn’t that what you always say?” Sakura said stubbornly. “I just want to take the audition, see what it’s all about.” She tried reasoning with him.

“No. You’ll be exposing your magic. Not to mention, the council would know about you.” Eriol refused. He had been trying to keep her away from the council, for her own safety. He wasn’t going to let her walk in there and expose herself like that.

“Everyone in that audition will be exposing their magic. I’m just another one of these young magicians. Or is it because you don’t think I’m good enough for this?” Sakura asked him.

“Don’t even play that card with me.” He said, refusing to rise to her bait.

“Well, it looks just like it! All this training, everything that you taught me and you don’t even let me go out there and learn for myself. You said you would support my learning, that you don’t want me to be a traditional wife, yet now you’re treating me like one!” Sakura told him in annoyance.

“I have one condition, remember?” He reminded her. “I will support you in whatever you want to do, as long as you’re staying safe.”

“This is just a youth training project! How unsafe could it be?” Sakura asked. She had asked Grace about it and from what she had gathered, it was more like a training group where they would learn how to get better and stronger. Just like what she had been doing for years.

Eriol looked at her. “What did Grace tell you?”

Sakura was quiet at first, but finally said, “This is a training group. For young magicians, such as myself. Everyone will train to be better, to be stronger.”

“It’s more than that. The audition is to pick a team.” He gestured for her to sit down and she did, before taking a seat across from her. “The selected team, which would be picked by John, would go through training, yes, but they would also go out there to… run errands, such as taking care of simple problems, retrieving artifacts, and the likes. John is in charge of the project, so I don’t know too much about the details, but It will be like a hands-on training and sometimes the situation could get dangerous.” Eriol paused. “I know you are going to be able to handle it, but I don’t know how the team is going to be like, whether they can support you and have your back. And without me or the guardians, you won’t have any backup.”

“But it was just like that when I first started, when I captured the cards. Yes, I had Syaoran, but we were just kids. Kero wasn’t even in his true form yet.” Sakura said.

“The cards were different. Clow made sure that nothing bad would happen to you. But this will be out of my hands.” Eriol said. “These young magicians are inexperienced. I don’t know what they’re capable of.”

“Is John really going to let a bunch of inexperienced magicians out there without any backup?” Sakura found it hard to believe. “Surely he knows better than that.”

“It’s not without backup. John has picked a team leader, someone with a lot more experience to lead the team. He’s John’s student and he’s working for the council in one of the task force teams, so he has some experience in combat. But when it comes to your safety, I don’t trust anyone else other than myself and the guardians.”

“But I just want to do the audition. I might not even get picked.” Sakura said. “The team sounds exclusive.”

“You’re _the_ Cardmistress, Sakura. You _will_ be picked. Especially since John knows who you are, of your magic, and that I’ve been training you myself. He would be stupid not to pick you. The team is not exclusive, it’s experimental. John wants to see how this one goes. That’s why there will only be one team. He wants to see if this could be done as a part of the council, but that would be pretty far down the road. For now, he just wants to see how this kind of team would fit in the council.”

“So, why do this in the first place?” Sakura didn’t understand. This sounded like a half-hearted attempt now.

“Because the council is not exactly in a good place right now. John thought that recruiting some new magicians would be a good idea. Hopefully, this project would attract more attention from other young magicians, to encourage them to learn more about magic, about the council, and it would benefit the council in the long run. But the rest of us didn’t exactly agree.”

“You disagreed with him? I thought you would’ve liked this idea since it promotes learning and all.” Sakura was surprised.

“When John first brought it up, I thought this was a good idea, but then I saw how these young magicians are. They don’t like to train, to practice. They’re reckless and they think that just because they have magic, they’re good enough. Some of them are even arrogant.”

Sakura frowned. “How do you know this?”

“I’ve seen how they are. The audition has been going on for a week. While not everyone is like that, some of them are. Their magic is weak, but they don’t see the need to learn because they think they’re already good enough.” Eriol said. “A couple of days ago, I actually sat down with the other applicants, just to see how they are.”

Sakura was surprised. “Is that why you brought a hat and a hoodie to work that day?”

“Yes, I got to play dress up, or down, actually.” He had changed from his suit to a hoodie and put on a baseball hat to hide his unusual blue hair. At her look, he continued, “I’m still twenty one, Saku. Technically I do meet the requirements too. Nobody suspected a thing, but of course I told John beforehand, just in case. I didn’t register. I just went in and sat down. Then I left after a while.” He left after he observed how those applicants behaved among themselves and was disappointed. The future of magic didn’t seem too bright.

“I won’t be like that though.” Sakura frowned. “I’ll keep on learning.”

“You’re never like that and you will never be like that. That’s why I told you this is not for you.” Eriol hoped this would be the end of their discussion.

Apparently not.

“I think I still can learn, even from these people.” Sakura told him. “I really want to do this, Eriol. At the very least, I want to know if I can do this. You’re always there with me to keep me safe, but I’ve been training for years now and I just want to know what I can do, on my own, as a Cardmistress.”

Eriol was silent as he considered her words. “I understand why you want to do this. But please understand my position too. As your mentor, I agree with what you said, that this could be a learning opportunity for you. But as your husband, I just want you to be safe.”

Sakura stood up and went to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. “I know you’re worried, but you’re my mentor, I’m not that inexperienced. You’ve made sure of that yourself, haven’t you?” She kissed his cheek. “How about this? Let me give it a try. If at any point either one of us wants me to stop, then I will stop. If you think that this is not a good idea, or if I find that I don’t like it, I’ll stop. Deal?”

Eriol thought about it. “Deal.” He agreed. “At _any_ point, Sakura. Promise me.”

“I promise.” Sakura said and then kissed him to seal her promise. “Thank you, for letting me do this.”

“Don’t thank me yet. There are details that we need to work on if you really are going to do this.” Eriol told her. “Especially if we’re both going to be working in the same building.”

“Hm… Let’s see, obviously, I can’t register as Sakura Hiiragizawa and I must not let people know that my dear husband is the famous, yet mysterious Lord Hiiragizawa.” She kissed him again, playfully this time. “I’ll be very careful. I won’t jeopardize you or your secret.” Sakura turned serious. “If something happens, I will choose to stop rather than risking your secret.”

“It’s not me that I’m worried about, Saku. If people find out who you are, it could put you at risk. That’s why I’ve been keeping you as far away as possible from the council. Your magic, it’s one of a kind, literally. There’s only one Cardmistress as there’s only one set of cards.” Eriol explained. “I’ll do anything to protect you, you know that. If I have to reveal who I am, so be it.”

Sakura fell silent. “You know what? You’re right.” She finally said. “This is not a good idea. The risk is too big, for the both of us.” Sakura was disappointed, but she would put him first. If anything happened, if everything went sideways, he would have to reveal himself and Sakura wouldn’t be able to live with herself if he had to do that just because she wanted to join some youth training group.

“We’ll be okay. We just have to be very careful. Besides, it’s not like we’ll see each other in the office. I don’t usually wander around like John does and you’ll be too busy with your own stuff too.” Eriol could tell she really wanted to do this. “We’ll talk to John, get him onboard. If he doesn’t agree, then we’ll drop this, okay?”

Sakura hesitated. “I don’t want to put you at risk, Eriol.”

“You won’t. Like I said, we have to be careful, that’s all. Let me tell you something, nobody knows about Bradford’s personal life. We all know she’s married and her husband is a magician, but other than that, we know nothing of him. For all we know, he could be working in the council. Even John who has been working with her for years doesn’t know.” Eriol looked at her. “My point is, it _is_ possible to do this. Besides, as this is just an experimental team, it might not last for too long. You also have to keep that in mind. This is not a permanent thing.”

Sakura nodded. “I understand. I also have no desire to work permanently there. I guess, I just want to test myself or something.”

“Alright. Go for the audition tomorrow. Then we’ll go from there.” Eriol told her. “Maybe you won’t even make the cut and we’re worrying over nothing.”

“Maybe.” Now Sakura wasn’t sure if she wanted to make the cut. Maybe it was better not to get involved in the first place.

“I’m just joking, Saku. You’re going to make the cut.” Eriol cheered her up, thinking that she might get discouraged by his words. He turned to look at her. “Make me proud, okay?”

Sakura looked at him and saw his smile. “I will.” She smiled back. “I love you.”

He pulled her close and kissed her. “Love you too.”

* * *

John looked at the applicant list in surprise. He got up and quickly made his way to the office next door.

“Enter.” Eriol called and John entered and closed the door firmly behind him.

“What is this?” He asked, waving the list in front of Eriol.

“If you keep moving it, I won’t be able to tell you.” Eriol told him pointedly.

John put the list on the desk and put his finger on her name. “Why is her name on my list?” John was pointing at ‘Sakura Kinomoto’.

“Probably because she’s applying for your project?” Eriol said, not even looking at the list. “She meets the requirements, doesn’t she?”

“And you let her?” John asked in disbelief.

“I think it has been established that I don’t ‘let’ her do anything. She makes her own decisions.” Eriol leaned back in his chair. “Make no mistake though, I _will_ intervene if I need to, but Sakura knows what she’s doing.”

John sat down across from him. “What do you want me to do here?”

“Treat her like any other applicant, but we’ve talked about this too. If you do pick her as part of the team, then needless to say, we’re going to ask that you keep this a secret. I think it would be more difficult for you since I won’t be interacting with her in the office.” Eriol told him.

“You want me to pretend I don’t know her?” John asked incredulously.

Eriol nodded. “She’s just another applicant. Unless you’ve gotten out of your way to get to know everyone else, then yes, I suppose you’ll have to pretend.”

“And if I don’t pick her?” John asked again.

“That would be your decision, not mine.” Eriol told him. “Don’t worry, whatever you decide, she won’t hold it against you.”

John was speechless.

* * *

“Lawson and Kinomoto.” The lady doing the audition called and Sakura got up from her seat. She and another girl were led through a door, into another room for their ‘audition’. Sakura didn’t know what to expect, although judging by how the person had been calling the names in pairs, she could guess that they were being pitched against each other.

She got here early in the morning for registration and the audition itself was held in the afternoon. Sakura went out to get some sandwich and then she sat down in the waiting room along with the other applicants. She had looked around. There were not that many applicants in the room, probably twenty or so. At least half of them had already gone in. As she sat there and observed, Sakura could see that Eriol was right. While some of them were nervous, others were bragging about their magic. Sakura herself remained quiet.

The lady led them to an ‘arena’. It was just a square, but there were lines around it. She told them that they would have to fight each other. The rule was simple, the person who got knocked out of the lines lost and the winner would proceed to the next stage of the audition.

Sakura glanced around and saw that they were being observed by two other people, John, and another guy. Sakura noted that John didn’t look surprised to see her. Eriol must’ve told him then.

Sakura and her opponent stood in the middle of the square, facing each other. When the lady told them to get ready, Sakura mumbled her incantation and her magic circle appeared beneath her feet. “Release!”

The battle began and Sakura cast her first card. “Windy!”

The girl was surprised and Windy easily knocked her off and she was thrown out of the arena. The battle didn’t even last ten seconds.

Sakura herself was surprised. She just stood there in shock. She had expected her opponent to fight back, or at least, do something, anything. Sakura glanced around and saw the others’ surprise too, including John’s. He signalled to the lady and then told her something. Sakura was then told to go back to the waiting room.

Sakura sat in the waiting room as the rest of the applicants were called, but nobody else came back like she did. Now, she was getting worried. After everyone was gone, Sakura sat alone in the waiting room and the lady from earlier came to get her. “Please follow me, Ms. Kinomoto.” She said simply and then led her to the elevator.

They entered the elevator and she swiped her access card, key in a code, and press the number seven. Once they reached the floor, she stepped out and Sakura followed her. They were in what looked like an office area, but it was decorated very tastefully. It looked like a luxury office space and Sakura knew instinctively that this was the High Priests’ office area.

Sakura was told to sit down on the couch in front of one of the offices and the lady went to the secretary desk to talk to her. Two minutes later, she came back to Sakura. “Please wait here for a moment. Lord Cavendish would like to speak with you.” She informed her. Sakura nodded, recognizing John’s name. Then the lady left her there alone.

Sakura looked around discreetly. There seemed to be two offices here. One was definitely John’s, since Sakura was sitting in front of it. The other door was closed, but there was a guy sitting at the desk in front of it. He was working on his computer, just like John’s secretary was. Sakura sat there quietly, waiting, her bag on her lap.

Five minutes later, Sakura heard the other door opened and closed, then she heard his voice. “I need two copies for this. Call Peterson and tell him I want his case report by the end of the day.”

Sakura blinked in surprise, but she managed to stop herself from turning around. So the other office was _his_ office.

“Yes, my Lord.” The guy, presumably his assistant, said.

“Thank you.” Eriol said and then Sakura heard footsteps. Quiet, but she recognized it easily. Sakura kept looking straight ahead, not daring to even steal a glance and out of the corner of her eye, she saw him walking past. He must’ve seen her too, but he didn’t even pause in his strides and then, he turned around the corner.

‘ _This is going to be harder than I thought._ ’ Sakura thought briefly.

“Ms. Kinomoto, you can go in now.” John’s secretary told her a few minutes later.

“Thank you.” Sakura nodded and then walked to John’s office. She knocked and was told to enter.

Sakura entered and closed the door behind her. When she turned around, she saw John looking at her with a smile across his face. “Hello, Sakura. Take a seat. I’m sorry for making you wait for so long. I had a phone call and the other person just wouldn’t stop talking.”

Sakura sat down. She was unsure why John had wanted to speak with her. “That’s alright, my Lord.” Sakura had learned how to address the High Priests. Grace had told her about it.

“What’s with the formality? We’re not in public. Just John, please.” John told her then leaned forward. “I’ve got to tell you, I’m very surprised. First, I saw you name on my applicant list and then I was told that you’re applying to be in the team. And then that battle, if you could even call it that. Why are you even here?”

“Because I want to apply for being in the training team.” Sakura told him simply. “I see that I meet the requirements, so I just thought I would give it a try.”

John looked at her and then sighed. “Okay, look, I’m going to let you decide here. If you want in, then you’re in.”

Sakura frowned. “That doesn’t seem fair for the rest of the applicants.”

“Because this is not even a fair play. None of them is the Cardmistress and they’re not trained by Eriol either.” John pointed out. “You can’t expect me to be completely unbiased here, Sakura. That girl didn’t even know what hit her. It’s very clear that these people are not even at your level.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t learn anything from them.” Sakura told him.

“True.” John admitted. “If you want in, I’ll give the spot to you. But you have to be sure because,” John held out two fingers, “One, you might not learn that much, so you might have to adjust your expectation. Two, you really have to know what you’re getting yourself into because otherwise your husband will hold me responsible.”

“He has nothing to do with this.” Sakura said firmly.

“Yes, he mentioned. But we both know that if something happens, he will definitely intervene.” John said. “What did he tell you about the team?”

“That it’s experimental.” Sakura said. “You’re recruiting young magicians to give them hands-on training in the field while teaching them about magic, their own and the world we live in.”

“Yes, it’s experimental. Might not last long, depending on the team’s performance. It could last for a few months, or a year, but not more than that. We’re not ready for this to be permanent at this point. This is just to see if it’s a viable option in the future. It’s like a prototype project.” John sighed. “I’m not looking for someone who’s experienced, or trained. In fact, I’m looking for people who have potential, but need mentorship and direction, a little help in developing their magic. I’ll be honest with you, I could use someone like you in the team. I think you could help in shaping the team, to motivate and set an example for the rest of the team. With your magic and your training, you’ll be perfect for that.”

“I understand.” Sakura nodded. “I want to join this team to learn, John. It would be a good learning opportunity for me. Even he agreed on that. There’s just one thing though. I told you he has nothing to do with this, but if he says I’m out, then I’m out.”

“I figured as much. Alright, Sakura. You’re in. He told me about the arrangement you two came up with and I agree. It will be for the best if other people don’t know about this.” John decided. “But when we’re in a private setting like this, I don’t want to hear any Lord coming from you, okay?” He added.

“Understood. Thank you, John.” Sakura said with a smile.

* * *

“John told me about what happened during the audition. He’s very impressed.” Eriol said later that evening as they got ready for bed. He had stayed late in the office today so they didn’t have dinner together. When he got home at around 9pm, he ate his dinner, took a shower, then meditated.

“I was actually surprised.” Sakura said as she put aside her Kindle.

“She didn’t even stand a chance, according to John.” Eriol got under the cover.

“I thought she was going to do something, anything.” Sakura said honestly. “But she didn’t and Windy just… knocked her out of the lines. After the audition, John talked to me. I skipped through the rest of the audition process and got hired on the spot.” Sakura told him as he pulled her into his arms. “That doesn’t seem fair for the rest of the applicants, but then again…”

“I told you you’d make the team.” He held her close. “Are you cold?” He asked as he noticed her shivering slightly.

“A little bit. It’s a pretty cold night.” Sakura admitted.

Eriol immediately put his hand on her forehead. “No fever. Are you feeling sick?”

“I’m fine. Just feeling a little cold, is all.” Sakura snuggled closer to him. “You’re so warm and comfy though.” She said, nuzzling his pyjamas happily.

Eriol chuckled and held her tighter. “I was surprised to see you earlier.”

“Me too. I almost turned around when I heard your voice. It’s not going to be easy. I really have to be careful.” Sakura told him, yawning.

“Don’t worry too much about it, okay? We’ll just do our best and deal with the problems, if any.” He rubbed her arm, hoping to give her some warmth. “Go to sleep.”

“Night.” Sakura closed her eyes and let sleep pull her under.

“Good night.” He kissed her hair and closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

On her first day to work, Sakura woke up early because she needed to get ready for work before making breakfast. Since her office hours started earlier than Eriol, she set her alarm for 6.15am. When her alarm rang, Sakura turned it off and heard him stirring beside her.

“Shh… It’s still early. Go back to sleep.” Sakura told him softly.

Eriol went back to sleep and Sakura dragged herself out of bed and went to the bathroom. She had bought some new outfits for work since she wasn’t sure what to wear. She thought it would be better to play it safe and dress in a business casual outfits. She sat down at her vanity table and put on some light makeup.

At 7am, Sakura went downstairs to start breakfast.

“You’re up early, Sakura.” Kero commented as he joined her in the kitchen. Neither Kero nor Spinel was thrilled with the idea of Sakura being out there without any backup, but there was nothing that they could do about it.

“I have to get to the office by 8.45am. Don’t want to be late on my first day.” Sakura poured the battered eggs into the frying pan. “I’m taking the train, so I should leave at eight. Do you want to eat breakfast with me or with Eriol later?”

“I’ll eat with you. Eriol is not going to drive you to work?” Kero asked, surprised.

“No. He starts later at 9.30. There’s no point of him leaving early just to drive me there.” Sakura used the spatula to stir the egg.

Kero was quiet.

Sakura turned to her guardian and said, “I know you and Spinel are worried, Kero. But I’ll be fine, okay?”

“It’s just…” Kero started, but then he thought better of it. “Just please be careful, ok? Without us or Eriol, you’ll be without backup out there.”

“Of course.” Sakura assured him. She put the breakfast into three plates and then put Eriol’s plate in the food warmer for him to eat later. She and Kero sat down for breakfast. They’d just started eating when Eriol showed up in the kitchen, already dressed for work in shirt, tie and waistcoat, carrying his suit jacket.

“Good morning.” He greeted them.

“Morning.” Sakura said, surprised to see him. “I thought you went back to sleep?” She got up to get his food from the food warmer and make him his tea.

“I’ve got it, Saku. Sit down and eat your breakfast.” Eriol told her as he started to make his own tea. “We can leave together. I’ve driven around the office and saw a nice spot where I can drop you off about a couple of blocks away from the office.”

“You don’t start until 9.30 though.” Sakura said as she ate. She was surprised and touched that he had thought about this. He wanted to make things easier for her.

“Doesn’t matter. Flexible hours, remember?” Eriol finished making his tea, got his food and sat down. “I can go in whenever I want. You would have to go home on your own though, especially when I have to stay late. But we’ll see. Some days, maybe we could go home together too.”

“Let’s not push it.” Sakura said. Once she finished her breakfast, Sakura went to rinse her plate quickly, put it in the dishwasher and then prepared their lunches. She put the sandwiches into two sandwich bags and put one of them in her bag and the other in his lunch bag.

Ten minutes later, they were on their way to the office.

“Have a good day at work.” Eriol told her as he dropped her off. Sakura would have to walk a little to the office, but she didn’t mind.

“You too.” Sakura hopped down, closed the door, and then started walking as he drove off.

Sakura entered the building and went to the receptionist. She told her that she was here as a part of Christopher’s team. She was given a one-time access code and then she went to the elevator. Sakura had received an email on Friday, giving her detailed instructions as to what to do when she first arrived. So, she was just following the instructions.

Sakura arrived on the third floor and looked around for Meeting Room 2. Once she found it, she knocked.

“Come in!” A voice called out from the inside.

Sakura stepped into the room and saw a couple of other people. “Good morning. I’m Sakura Kinomoto.” Sakura greeted them.

“Good morning, Ms. Kinomoto. I’m Christopher Wilson. But you can call me Chris for short. Welcome to the team! Please take a seat. We’re still waiting for the others.” The man at the head of the table said pleasantly.

Sakura sat down at one of the empty chairs and looked around. There was only another person there beside herself and Chris. It was another girl and she looked rather young. Sakura thought she even looked younger than herself.

Sakura turned her attention to Chris. He looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties, with light brown hair and brown eyes. Sakura remembered seeing him in her audition too. According to Eriol, Chris was a great magician. He was John’s student and John was grooming him to be a leader, hence he was chosen to lead this team. He grew up in a magician household. Both of his parents were magicians and he was well versed in the magic world and its rules and expectations.

“He’ll take care of you. I believe John has spoken to him about you. While he might not know who you are, he knows you’re not like the others.” Eriol had said. “Listen to him and learn from him.“

The room was quiet, but a couple of minutes later, the door opened and another girl stepped into the room. “Good morning!”

“Good morning. You must be Ms. Blake.” Chris said and then introduced himself and told her to take a seat. “We’re just waiting for one more person and then we can start.” He informed them. “Please feel free to introduce yourself to one another. We’re going to be a team for the next foreseeable future after all.”

They started to introduce themselves. Sakura learned the younger girl’s name was Alice McPherson and the other one was Jessica Blake, or Jess, as she preferred to be called.

“Sakura Kinomoto? Are you Japanese?” Jess asked enthusiastically.

Sakura nodded. “I am.”

“That’s so awesome! I know some Chinese, some Indians, but never had any Japanese friend before.” Jess was clearly pretty excitable. Somehow she reminded Sakura of Nakuru.

At ten past nine, the door opened and a guy came in and looked around.

“Good morning. Mr. Clayton? My name is Christopher Wilson. Please take a seat.” Chris said and they waited for the guy to sit down. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, with shoulder-length blonde hair and brown eyes.

“Alright, now that everyone is here, we can begin.” Chris said. Sakura was a little surprised. This was a small team. She thought the team would’ve been bigger.

“I’d like to welcome everyone once again. Please introduce yourself. I know you ladies have done so, but let’s do it for the benefit of Mr. Clayton.” Chris said.

“Trevor Clayton, you can call me Trev.” The guy introduced himself after Sakura and the other girls had done so.

“Right. Now, first order of business,” Chris started handing out a file folder. “These are your welcome kit. Inside, you’ll find some useful information about the council as well as your access card. You’ll need the card to access various areas in the building. However, there are some restricted areas that you cannot access. For today, we’re going to do orientation. We’re going to tour the building and we’ll go through some of the important information that you need to know. Also, you need to sign an NDA that states that whatever business you conduct and have with the council, you will not disclose it to any third party, including your friends and family.”

“What?” Trevor asked in disbelief. “I wasn’t told of any NDA before.”

“It’s just a standard procedure, Trevor. You’ll find that a lot of companies would have the same requirement for their employees.” Chris told him. “The NDA document is inside your folder, please take a few minutes to take a look and if you understand and agree, then please sign it and return them to me. If you have any question, do let me know.”

Sakura opened her folder and found some papers and a yellow card. She saw that the rest of the team had the same card too. But she also knew that Eriol had a white card. So, she concluded that the access cards were colour coded, depending on their ranks. Sakura looked through the papers and found the NDA. She read it carefully. Sakura never really dealt with legal documents in English, so she had to read it twice to understand what it said. Just like Chris said, it looked like a standard letter stating that she agreed not to disclose any information and business that was conducted in relation to the council. Sakura filled up her name and then signed the document. She briefly wondered if the NDA would still be valid if she had signed it using her maiden name, but then, it _was_ still her name. Once signed, she handed it over to Chris.

Once everyone had signed the NDA, Chris continued with the orientation.

“Your card is yellow. Generally speaking, you can access the basements, second, third and fourth floor. The second and third floors are offices and meeting rooms, the fourth floor is the council library. You can use your access card to borrow books from the library as well. The B1 is the training room. B2 and B3 are parking garage. Is anyone driving?”

Everyone said no.

“There are some things that we need to discuss. First, office hours are from 9am to 4.30pm. There might be times when you have to do overtime, but it would be rare. I’m flexible with lunch time because sometimes we might have to adjust according to our schedule for that day. But I hope that you can be punctual in the mornings because we would start the day with morning briefings at 9.15am.” Chris told them. “Next, dress code. Now, since our team is going to be in the field sometimes, I don’t expect you to dress formally. But don’t dress too casually either because we’re still part of the council and we represent the council. Not to mention, it would be seen as inappropriate within this building. Don’t wear shorts, sleeveless tops, slippers, or sandals. Please refrain from wearing anything that is revealing either.”

“Why so many rules?” Trevor asked. “I thought this is a field team.”

“It is a field team, but it doesn’t mean that we could do whatever we want. We’re still working for the council and we still have to follow the rules.” Chris said firmly. “Speaking of which, as some of you might know, the council is led by a group of High Priests and Priestesses. This team is under the supervision of Lord Cavendish, one of the High Priests. He might want to speak to us from time to time, just to check in with us. You need to remember to address him properly and when you speak to him, you are to address him as ‘my Lord’.” Chris told them and noticed that Jess and Alice looked nervous. “Don’t worry. You’re going to be alright. It’s mostly just for formality and to show your respect. Just like you address your boss as boss or sir or ma’am.” He added kindly.

“So, Lord Cavendish, huh? Does he have a first name?” Trevor asked. Sakura glanced at Chris. She knew for a fact that only those with high enough clearance know the names.

“Sorry, you don’t have clearance for that information. Besides, I don’t see the importance.” Chris told Trevor.

“I would want to know who I’m working for.” Trevor said.

“Your direct supervisor would be me and I’ve told you my name, haven’t I?” Chris asked. He kept his tone neutral, but there was a slight warning in it.

Trevor looked displeased, but he didn’t say anything further.

“How about the other High Priests and Priestesses? Do we have to address them as such?” Jess asked politely.

“You might not even see them, but in the unlikely event that you do, then yes. You should address the High Priestess as ‘my Lady’.” Chirs answered. “But they don’t usually go around. I’ll be honest with you, most people don’t even know how they look like. So, it’s very unlikely that you’ll even see them, or speak to any of them.”

“So, no name, no face. Do _you_ even know how they look like? And their names?” Trevor asked.

“I do.” Chirs said simply.

“Because you have clearance?” Trevor asked.

“Yes.” Chris said shortly. “Now, there’s one more thing. The use of magic is prohibited in the building. The only place you can use magic is in the training room. Other than that, you cannot use magic.”

This had surprised even Sakura.

“You mean, we can’t use our magic here?” Trevor asked. “This is the magic council, isn’t it? What’s the point of not being able to use magic inside the magic council?”

“To avoid unnecessary problems. And no, you cannot use magic here.” Chris said. “You’re welcome to try if you want.”

Trevor rolled up his sleeve and they could see a tattoo on his arm. He pressed his hand on the tattoo, but nothing happened. He tried again, still nothing. “What?”

“The whole building is under a spell. Nobody can use magic here. Your magic will not work. As long as you’re in the building, we’re like non-mages.” Chris explained.

“How inconvenient.” Trevor complained.

Sakura was starting to get annoyed with this guy. Ever since they started, all he did was complained and asked unimportant questions and generally being difficult.

“Any other question?” Chris asked, but nobody said anything. “I’d suggest that we go ahead with the tour and if and when you have any question, you can ask me.”

The rest of them agreed. They got up and Chris led them to their desks. It was a cubicle on the same floor that had four desks and computers. They were assigned to their desks and Chris told them they could leave their belongings there and follow him for the tour. Sakura left her bag, but she put her cards in her pocket. Just because she couldn’t use them, didn’t mean that she was going to leave them here. Her staff and her cards went with her, always. Chris showed them the break room and the general layout of the third floor. It was filled with cubicles, small office rooms and meeting rooms. He showed them the break room too. Even as they walked around, nobody seemed to pay them any attention as everyone was busy with their own work.

Chris led the way to the elevator. Once inside, he swiped his access card (blue) and pressed the number 4 button. “I think we’ll start from the top and work our way down to the training room.”

They went up and he showed them the library. It occupied the whole floor. Sakura looked around and thought of Spinel. ‘ _He’d love to explore the books here._ ’

“Not all of the books are in English. Also, it could get confusing. So, don’t hesitate to ask for the librarian’s help.” Chris introduced them to the librarian.

“Can we borrow the books and take them home?” Sakura asked, thinking that maybe she could get some books for her guardian.

“Some of them, yes. Others cannot leave the library, especially the reference books and the older books.” The librarian, Mrs. Brown, told her.

“Thank you.” Sakura thanked her politely. She’d take a closer look later.

“Familiarize yourself with the library. You might need to do some research in between field work and also when you write your reports.” Chris told them.

“Research? Reports?” Trevor frowned unhappily.

“Yes, Trevor. Sometimes you need to research on what kind of things we’re dealing with and you do need to write reports about what happens in the field. Everything needs to be properly documented.” Chris said patiently.

They headed to the first floor. Chris told them that the second floor was pretty much identical with the third floor, but with different departments.

When they got off on the first floor, Chris showed them the cafeteria and the garden area outside. The cafeteria was big, with various food stalls.

Lastly, they went to the B1. This was also where they had conducted the audition. Now Sakura understood why. The audition involved magic and they couldn’t do magic anywhere else in the building.

“Ah Chris, you said that the whole building is under a spell that prevent any magic to be performed, right?” Sakura asked when she suddenly thought of something.

“Yes, Sakura. The spell is to supress one’s magical abilities. It’s a very powerful spell, so it works on everyone.” Chris replied.

‘ _Not everyone._ ’ Sakura thought. There was one person in the whole building, no, in the whole world, who could resist _any_ spell. No spell would work on him. Filing this information in her head, Sakura planned to confirm this with her husband later on.

They reached the training room. This was where they held the audition. “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to start training. It’s very important that we know of each other’s magic, skills and abilities before we go out into the field. Therefore, for the next few weeks, we’re just going to train and learn about each other. We need to build trust with each other so that we know we can count on one another in the field.” Chris told them. “We’ll start going into the field next year, after the holiday. So, use this opportunity to get to know each other and learn as much as you can. We’re a team, so we have to work together as a team, not as individuals.”

“Next year?” Trevor asked. “We’re not going to the field now?”

“No. We don’t know about each other well enough yet. We have to learn how to work together as a team before we can even think about going into the field.” Chris said and Sakura agreed with him completely.

“Alright, everyone. Seeing that it’s almost midday, let’s just have our lunch break now. We’ll regroup back in the office at say,” He looked at his watch, “1pm?”

The rest of them agreed and they went for lunch.

“Sakura, are you going to the cafeteria?” Jess asked.

“I bring lunch from home. But I’ll join you there.” Sakura said. She was going to get her lunch from her bag upstairs.

“Alright. Just come and find us when you’re ready.” Jess said as she and Alice went to the cafeteria.

Sakura was waiting for the elevator when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Surprised, she turned around and saw Grace. “Grace!” Sakura greeted her.

“Hi Sakura! You made the team, huh? Congrats!” Grace said with a smile.

“Thanks!” Sakura said and the elevator arrived. They got in and Grace used her access card (green) and pressed the number three. “Is this your first day?” She asked and Sakura nodded. “How is it so far?”

“It’s great. Mostly just orientation. Oh, while we’re at it, please don’t mention anything about well…” They were alone in the elevator, but Sakura didn’t want to take any risk.

Grace seemed to understand though. “Of course. Don’t worry about it. I think it’s also a good time to tell you, I‘m actually resigning.”

“Resigning?” Sakura asked, surprised.

“Yes. I got a job offer to become fulltime teacher. So, I’ll be too busy with that to take up any part-time job.” Grace said with a big smile. “It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for the past few years. I just heard from them yesterday and so today I’m here to resign.”

“Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!” Sakura said excitedly as they exited the elevator together.

“Thank you! I mean, I like working here as a translator, but at the end of the day, my dream is to be a teacher. So, this is like a dream job for me. Better yet, I’ll be working with kids!” Grace told her enthusiastically.

The two friends chatted for a bit more before they parted ways. Sakura went to her desk and picked up her sandwich bag and water bottle before going downstairs to the cafeteria. She looked around and saw Jess and Alice sitting together. She went to them and they ate lunch and chatted together.

* * *

“Sakura, can I speak with you privately?” Chris asked Sakura after they got back from lunch. He had told them to familiarize themselves with the council’s report formats and the software. They could also go to the library if they wanted to.

“Okay.” Sakura followed Chris to his office nearby. Chris closed the door and gestured for her to sit down.

“I saw your audition and that was something else. Lord Cavendish told me about you. You have some prior training, yes?” He asked as he sat down in his chair.

Sakura nodded. “I do. But I’m here to learn too, Chris.”

“Yes, he said that too. Your magic is strong, I could feel that during the audition. And it’s the old type.” Chris said.

“The old type?’ Sakura asked confusedly.

“That’s what we call the older type of magic, yours included. The new magic, they’re different from yours. You have the magic circle, that means your magic is the older and generally more powerful type of magic.” Chris told her. “You’ll notice that the rest of the team have what’s called the new magic. There’s no magic circle. Most of their power is drawn from the artifacts or their magic equipment instead of nature. In other words, their magic doesn’t come from within themselves, but rather from the external tools.”

Sakura blinked. Eriol never told her this. “I see.”

“Lord Cavendish told me that you’re mainly here because you’re to help me with the team, with their training.” Chris said. “He has spoken to you too, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, Lord Cavendish told me what he expects from me, which is to help the team in general.” Sakura nodded.

“In that case, I’m looking forward to working with you, Sakura. Of course we’re not going to tell the rest of the team about this, since we don’t want to create any kind of problems with them. Lord Cavendish also mentioned that your magic is unique on its own and we have to keep the in-the-know circle as small as possible. I’m afraid you’ll have to endure the same type of training with the rest of them, even though you’ve had your own training and experience.”

“That’s exactly what I want, Chris. Please don’t give me any special treatment. I’m here to learn, just like everyone else. But if you need my help in anything, please let me know. I’ll try my best to help you.” Sakura told him.

“Thank you, Sakura. I believe we’re going to get along well.” Chris said with a smile, which she returned easily.


	3. Chapter 3

"How was your first day?" Eriol asked her during dinner that evening.

"It was good. Mostly just orientation. We toured the building and we'll start training tomorrow. My team seems okay. Chris also talked to me about what John told him. He knows that I've had training and that John asked me to help with the team. But of course, there'll be no special treatment. We won't even tell the rest of the team. Oh, we also had to sign an NDA letter. I just signed it. Is that okay?" Sakura asked. Eriol usually took care of the important documents that they needed to deal with.

"That's okay. It's a standard procedure. Nothing to worry about." Eriol assured her. "Tell me about your team."

"There are two other girls and a guy. The girls are nice. Alice is younger than me. She's only twenty. Jess is older though at twenty four. We had lunch together. I also met Grace, she's resigning from the council. She got a job offer to be a fulltime teacher." Sakura told him.

"I see. That'll be good for her." Eriol nodded. "How about the guy? You mentioned there's another guy in the team."

"Ah, yes. The guy…" Sakura started. "He's not as nice. He's a bit of a jerk, actually."

Eriol frowned. "Did he do something to upset you?"

"No, nothing like that. He's just annoying. He's rude and he complains about, well, everything. He challenges Chris at every turn and all he wants to do is to go to the field and get some action, I think. He's not happy when Chris told us that we won't be going to the field until next year, after the holiday. We'll have to train to get to know each other and how to work as a team, but he doesn't like the idea. He also doesn't like that we have to follow the rules, including how we're to address John as Lord Cavendish and that we don't have clearance to certain information." Sakura explained. "His magic looks strange though. He has this tattoo on his arm."

"That's a channelling type of magic. His tattoo is the source of his magic and he could channel certain spirit, usually an animal spirit." Eriol told her.

"Is that the old type of magic? Chris told me about the old and new type of magic, saying that mine is the old type because I have the magic circle while the rest of the team have the new type of magic." Sakura recalled.

"It depends. If the magic comes from within himself, then it's the old type, but if it relies solely on the tattoo, then it's the new type. Both types exist, although the old type is stronger." Eriol said.

"Chris said that the whole building is under a spell that prevents anyone from doing any magic." Sakura said. "Does that apply to you too?"

Eriol looked at her. "You know the answer to that question."

"The spell doesn't work on you. As powerful as it is, you'll be able to resist it and your magic will not submit to it. So, in the whole building, you're the only one who can still perform magic." Sakura answered her own question.

"Correct." Eriol told her with a smile. "The spell doesn't work on me, but of course, I have to pretend that it does."

Sakura nodded. "I thought so."

They finished dinner, cleaned up and hung out in the living room. Sakura sat on the sofa with Spinel on her lap. Eriol sat beside her, watching some documentary show on the TV. Kero was on his phone, reading some game guide. She told Spinel about the library and said that she would see if she could borrow some books for him.

At 9.30pm, they decided to call it a night.

"You don't have to drive me to work. I can take the train." Sakura said as he climbed into bed after his meditation.

"I don't mind." He said as he got settled. "Besides if I start earlier, I might be able to go home earlier too."

"Oh, okay then. I think I woke up too early this morning." Sakura set her alarm. "Maybe I should get a different type, then I won't be waking you up every time."

"Don't worry about it, Saku. It's part of sharing a life together." He said.

Sakura lay down and yawned. "I just don't want to be a bother."

"You're never a bother. Please don't ever think that." Eriol told her seriously.

Sakura nodded. "I love you very much." She mumbled sleepily.

"I love you too." He said as Sakura fell asleep. "More than you can ever imagine." He added softly.

* * *

The next day, after their morning briefing, Chris led his team down to the training room. Once they reached the room, he asked everyone to tell the team about their magic and give a little demonstration.

"Why don't you start first, Jess?" Chris told her.

Jess stood in the middle of the room and showed them her bracelet. "My bracelet can turn into some sort of a vine." She said and then she extended her arm and her bracelet extended to a flexible, vine-like thread.

Sakura frowned slightly. Jess was performing magic right in front of her, but she couldn't feel her presence.

"Can you control it?" Chris asked.

As an answer, Jess arranged the vine into a spiral like shape and then the vine slithered around like a snake.

"Very good. Can anyone think of any situation in which Jess could use her magic?" Chris asked the rest of the team.

"The vine could be used as a restraint, I think." Alice said after a few seconds.

"It could also be used as an extension of Jess' arm, to grab onto things." Since she could do similar thing with The Woods, Sakura knew some of the other ways it could be utilized.

"Yes, that's great." Chris nodded. "As we go along, I'm sure you'll find more ways to make the most of your ability, Jess."

Jess nodded and recalled her vine back.

"Who's next? Trevor, why don't you show us what you've got?" Chris turned to the other guy.

Trevor smirked and then he stood in the middle of the room and rolled up his sleeve. "Get ready, I'm going to show you some real magic." He then tapped on his tattoo and they could see a silhouette of a tiger around him and heard the roar.

Sakura could feel the energy, but still, no presence. ' _This is weird…_ ' She thought. ' _I can feel his magic, but not him? How is he hiding his presence? Jess too._ '

The ladies took a step back involuntarily, but Chris remained in his place. "Why don't you tell us more about it?"

"I can summon the spirit of the tiger and gained its strength and speed. In other words, I become the tiger." Trevor said proudly.

' _So, it's just like what Eriol said. He's channeling the animal spirit, but why can't I feel his presence?_ ' Sakura frowned in confusion.

"Alice, you can go next." Chris told the young girl. Alice hesitated, but she slowly walked towards the middle.

"I, uh, I can call on a spirit, just like Trevor but it's a different kind. It's an ancient spirit." She then showed them her necklace. "The spirit was trapped in here by my ancestor and I can summon it."

"What can the spirit do?" Sakura asked curiously.

"She can fight, I suppose. Mainly shooting out energy blasts and manipulate objects." Alice said unsurely.

"Manipulate objects? Like, move them?" Jess asked.

"It's like she could… animate objects, such as statues, and also moved objects. She's strong enough to lift and throw objects." Alice explained further.

"That's impressive." Sakura said. It did sound like a strong magical ability.

"Are you comfortable enough to show us?" Chris asked, his tone gentle.

Alice nodded. "I think so." And then she closed her eyes and focused. She tapped her necklace and a spirit like creature burst forth from her necklace. It took a form of a woman. The spirit looked at the rest of them. When her eyes fell upon Trevor, her eyes narrowed.

"That's enough, Alice. You can recall her back." Chris said calmly. He noticed the spirit's interest in Trevor.

Sakura did too. While she didn't see it, she could feel the slight increase of energy. With Alice, it was quite different. Sakura could feel the magic and the presence, but she quickly realized that it wasn't Alice's presence that she felt. It was the spirit's.

Alice recalled the spirit and Chris nodded. He then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, would you like to go next?"

Sakura nodded and went to stand in the middle of the room. "My magic is, well, it's card based and…"

"Card based?" Trevor asked. "Are you going to show us some card tricks?" There was a slight mockery in his tone.

Chris turned to him. "Please don't interrupt. Let's respect each other, shall we?"

Trevor folded his arms across his chest and huffed, but he didn't say anything else.

Chris nodded at Sakura and she continued, "It's card based and these are my cards." Sakura took her cards out from her pocket and showed them.

"Why don't you show us, Sakura?" Chris asked encouragingly.

Sakura nodded. She then mumbled her incantation as her magic circle appeared beneath her feet. "Release!"

The other team members looked at her in surprise. "Windy!" Sakura cast her card and Windy burst forth and swirl around her Mistress. After a few seconds, Windy turned back into her card form and landed in Sakura's waiting hand.

"Excellent, Sakura." Chris nodded his head. Just like during the audition, he could feel her presence and it was strong. No wonder Lord Cavendish told him that she was special.

"What was it that you say? And were did that stick come from?" Jess asked, looking at Sakura's pink staff.

"Oh, it's my staff. And I summoned it with a spell. It's Japanese." Sakura explained. She recalled her staff and it turned back into the key form.

"You actually use a spell? Like a real magic spell?" Jess asked.

Sakura nodded. Now she was confused, didn't they use any spell? Sakura walked back to the side and turned to Chris, "I guess it's your turn now, Chris?"

"Guess it is." Chris nodded and walked to the middle of the room. Sakura watched eagerly. Eriol had spoken highly of him, so Sakura was eager to see what he could do since she knew her husband wouldn't just praise anyone without any reason.

Chris took a deep breath and then he too seemed to mumble his own incantation as his magic circle appeared beneath his feet. A few seconds later, he stood there holding a sword.

This time, Sakura could feel Chris' presence, unlike the rest of the team. She could feel his magic _and_ his presence and it was pretty strong. Apparently, like Sakura, Chris too, knew how to hide his presence.

"My magic is pretty straightforward. I use the sword to fight and cast some energy blast. Nothing too special." Chris said modestly, a smile on his face. "It's useful in combat, but not much else." He then recalled his sword.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do going forward. Since we've known of each other's magic, starting tomorrow, we're going to start training by going against each other. Now, remember, the goal is to get to know each other and to learn from each other." Chris told them seriously. "Take your lunch break. Come back to the office at 1pm. Lord Cavendish would like to speak with us." Chris told them. Jess and Alice looked slightly nervous upon the idea of meeting the 'big boss'.

They left and Sakura again went upstairs to get her lunch before joining her new friends in the cafeteria. As she was riding the elevator, Sakura thought about not bringing her own lunch tomorrow and just buy one from the cafeteria like her friends.

* * *

At 1pm, the team gathered together in Meeting Room 2, waiting for John. He showed up about ten minutes later.

Chris stood up from his seat to greet him. "My Lord…"

John nodded and took a seat at the head of the table, facing everyone. His eyes swept the room as Chris introduced the team.

"This is Sakura Kinomoto, Jessica Blake, Alice McPherson and Trevor Clayton." Chris introduced them one by one.

"Good afternoon everyone. First, let me welcome you properly to the team and to the council." John said with a smile. "I believe Chris has told you the important parts. I'm glad to see all of you here and I'm looking forward to getting to know you and seeing your work in the future. I understand that things could get a little confusing at first, as you navigate your way through the council and around the magic world. You'll gain new experiences and learn new things, especially from each other because as a team, you'll be working together and train together." He paused and gestured to Chris. "Chris is here to facilitate your learning and to help you understand better about your magic and our world. Ultimately though, it's up to you to decide how much you want to learn. But I hope that all of you would keep an open mind and learn as much as possible from each other, and from Chris himself."

They nodded.

"There will be times when I might want to speak with you personally." John said and noted some nervousness from two of the ladies. "It's just to check in with you and see how you're doing in the team. However, if you have any concern or question, feel free to bring it up to Chris. He's here to help you, so don't hesitate to ask for help when you need it. One of the most common mistakes that anyone could make is to not ask for help when you need it. It would only hinder your progress. For the next few weeks, you'll be doing a lot of training. Use this as an opportunity to get better and to get stronger, as an individual and as a team. Learn to work with each other and be a part of the team."

Sakura listened to John. She could tell that he was a good teacher himself. Sakura knew John was a great magician. Grace told her that John was the friendliest High Priest, meaning that he wouldn't hesitate to greet everyone and talk to them. From what she had gathered, the others, including her own husband, weren't like that at all. While Eriol had his reasons, the other two simply chose not to be friendly.

After John talked to them, he left and Chris gave them some old cases and asked them to discuss what would they do in similar situation, based on their own abilities as a team.

"What are your cards, Sakura? Maybe we could use one of them." Jess asked.

Sakura showed them some of her cards. "Jess, you could use your vine to restraint the beast and then Alice could use the spirit to blast it. I could help with some elemental magic too. Trevor, you'd have to fight the beast head on." Sakura turned to the guy. He had been quiet throughout the discussion.

"That sounds like a good plan." Chris nodded. "You've been quiet, Trevor, do you have anything to add?"

Trevor glanced at the papers uninterestedly. "Yeah, well, whatever. I'll probably knock it out within minutes anyway. Seriously though, why are we doing this? We're not in school anymore." He gestured towards the papers. "What's the point of discussing about this?"

"Unlike in school, this time you will be out there, facing real opponent. This is to see how we can work together as a team and what everyone's role is. When you're out there, you have to have each other's back. We only have each other as our backup and we have to be able to rely on our team. Sometimes the situation could get dangerous and we cannot afford make any mistake because it could get fatal. If we don't train and learn enough, one of us could get hurt or worse. That's why it's important to explore your own magic and learn about your teammates' magic so that you know what to do when you're faced with different situations." Chris explained.

"All you talk about is learning and training and being part of the team. This isn't going to help us in the field. We need strength and power in order to win the battle. The strongest will win, with or without a team." Trevor said.

' _This guy is unbelievable!_ ' Sakura thought. She turned to see Chris and could see that he was trying to remain calm.

"This is a field _team_ , Trevor. Whether you like it or not, you're a part of this team. I know you're strong and you can work on your own, but right now, as a part of this team, please try to be more considerate of others in your team." Chris said as calmly as he could.

"Okay, fine. Whatever." Trevor said in annoyance.

At the end of the day, before they left, Chris asked Sakura to stay back.

"Based on what you see earlier this morning, what can you tell me about the team, Sakura?" Chris asked as they sat across from each other in his office.

"Actually, that was the weirdest thing. I could feel the magic, the energy, the power, but I couldn't feel their… presence. Except for yours." Sakura recalled. "They also looked surprised when I used a spell to summon my staff."

Chris nodded. "That's what I told you yesterday. Their magic is new, they rely on their equipment. But they have no magic of their own. That's also why they don't use any spell. Whatever magic that you feel, you didn't feel any presence because their equipment is the source of their magic. What is your take on Alice?"

"Alice herself has no presence, but the spirit's presence is strong. She seems to react to Trevor, which in itself is strange." Sakura told him. "Trevor has similar spirit summoning magic, but I couldn't feel his tiger presence."

"That's because Trevor's tiger spirit is not magical in itself, unlike Alice's." Chris said.

"So, Trevor's magic is the new type? Er… My mentor said that that kind of magic could be both old and new." Sakura quickly caught herself before she mentioned Eriol's name. Chris knew his name, she should be careful.

"Yes, his magic is the new type. Did you tell your mentor?" Chris asked, surprised.

' _Crap!_ ' Sakura thought. "Ah, I'm just curious. Of course I never mentioned any name, I'm sorry." She quickly apologized.

"That's okay, Sakura. You're very young, twenty one, right?" Chris asked. Sakura nodded. "For someone as young as yourself, to be this strong and knowledgeable, I'm surprised. If I may ask, how long have you been training?"

"Since I was eleven." Sakura told him honestly. "So, it's been about ten years now."

"That's a long time. Have you been training under the same mentor?" Chris asked.

Sakura nodded. "Yes."

"I've been training for a long time too, all my life basically. Lord Cavendish has been kind enough to take me as his student. I've learned a lot from him and I continue to learn everyday. Leading this team, I think I'm going to learn even more." Chris said. From his tone, Sakura could tell that he really respected John.

"You're a great magician, Chris. I could feel your presence earlier. You're strong. I'm sure you'll be a great leader for our team." Sakura said with a smile.

"Thank you, Sakura." Chris smiled at her. "Now, go home, get some rest. Tomorrow we're going to get into the real training."

"See you tomorrow!" Sakura stood up and left.


	4. Chapter 4

"Chris, I have a question." Sakura asked Chris one day after the others left for lunch, leaving her and Chris in the training room. "Why haven't you paired Trevor with Alice? Is it because of her spirit's reaction towards Trevor?"

Today was Friday and they had spent the past few days training against each other, including Chris himself. Today, Sakura had been paired up with Trevor. Sakura could've easily won, but she let him win anyway.

"Yes. I'm not sure what to make of that yet and I don't want us to get something that we can't handle. Even with the two of us in the team, without knowing exactly what the spirit is capable of, things could get out of hand pretty quickly." Chris said. He had acknowledged that Sakura was his equal. Her training, skills and knowledge had made her so. Although he didn't know anything about her mentor, he could see that he/she had taught her a lot about magic as Sakura was just as well versed in the magic world as Chris was and her magic was just as strong, if not stronger than his.

Sakura nodded. "I see. Well, I'm off for lunch. I'll see you later." She went to the cafeteria and joined her friends for lunch. By now, Sakura had stopped bringing her own lunch from home and she bought her lunch from the food stalls there. However, she still had to prepare lunch for Eriol as he he'd rather not go downstairs to get his lunch. Besides, he preferred something from home, even if it was something as simple as a sandwich or rice balls.

A few days passed and they had developed a routine. In the morning, they trained, then they would take their lunch break and spend the rest of the day either in the library, doing research, or discussing about the various case files that Chris presented to them. Trevor was still being uncooperative and during training, it was clear that he wanted to win every time. He didn't care if his teammate would learn from him and he certainly wasn't interested in learning from them.

"It's two weeks until the holiday. Do you have any plan?" Jess asked during lunch. "I'm going up north with my boyfriend to visit his family."

"I'm just going to go to my parents, celebrate with them." Alice told them. She started off timid, but once they got to know each other better, she started to get more comfortable around them.

"We don't really celebrate Christmas in Japan, but we do a lot of cleaning around new year." Sakura wasn't going to Japan this year. They had planned to spend Christmas and New Year here in London.

"That's unusual. Why do you do that?" Jess asked curiously. "Isn't it the time to celebrate with your family? You know, eat, drink, shop and watch the fireworks…"

"Hm, it's a tradition in Japan. I guess it's like as a symbol for us to cleanse our home to welcome the new year." Sakura explained. It was a little more complicated than that, but she just gave them the simplest explanation.

"Well, honestly, I don't have the motivation to clean on new year's day because usually I'm way too drunk!" Jess said and they laughed.

They finished lunch and went back upstairs to the office.

The next day, Chris paired Sakura and Jess as sparring partners and he finally put Trevor and Alice together.

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked him quietly as the rest of the team got ready.

"Can't avoid this forever." Chris said. "I talked to Lord Cavendish and he agreed that it's time. We might even find out why the spirit reacted so strongly towards Trevor."

Sakura nodded and she got to the middle of the room as it was her and Jess' turn first. They started sparring.

Nobody noticed the two people standing at the viewing window above, watching. The viewing window was covered with one way mirror, so the people in the training room couldn't see what was behind it and they had also concealed their presence.

"What brings you down here this morning?" John asked.

"I have nothing to do, so I thought I'd see how your team is doing." Eriol said as he stood there watching Sakura and Jess.

"We have mountains of paperwork. There's always _something_ to do." John said.

"How about you?" Eriol turned to him. "I don't see you working either."

"Chris told me that Alice is going up against Trevor today. I just want to see how that goes. He mentioned that Alice's spirit had a strong reaction towards the guy. I want to see what it's all about and make sure there will be no problem in the future." John told him. "Sakura has told you who is who, hasn't she?"

"Just the general thing. I've never seen them myself. I guess I'm just curious." Eriol admitted. "It's been two weeks and I want to see how they are. I happen to have some spare time, so here I am."

John looked down towards the training arena. "The one sparring with Sakura is Jess Blake. The guy is Trevor Clayton and the other girl is Alice McPherson." He told the younger mage.

Once the spar was over, now it was time for Alice and Trevor.

Sakura and Chris looked at each other. Both of them were curious, but they were also unsure of what to expect. Sakura kept her staff with her, just in case.

"Looks like a bad idea." Eriol commented, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Why do you say that?" John asked.

"Sakura is nervous. She knows them and she's expecting something to go wrong." Eriol told John. He knew her well and could read her body language.

"Well, it's a good thing we're here then. In case something did go wrong." John said.

For a few seconds, Alice and Trevor just stood there, facing each other. Trevor attacked first. He sent his tiger spirit after Alice, who summoned her own spirit. The spirit managed to stop the tiger and she even pushed Trevor back, knocking him off his feet.

At first, Trevor was surprised, but his surprised quickly turned into aggression and he jumped back to his feet and yelled as he sent the tiger after Alice again. The spirit thwarted his second attempt and that seemed to anger Trevor more. He once again sent the tiger forward, but this time, he too moved towards Alice.

"No!" Chris and Sakura yelled at the same time.

But Trevor didn't listen and he charged towards Alice, intending to attack her. The spirit was ready for his attack too. She threw him a few feet away, towards the rest of the team. Trevor got to his feet, ready to try again, but Chris grabbed him just in time. "Enough!" He said sharply.

"What? You're scared of some stupid spirit?!" Trevor shouted as he struggled to free himself from Chris' grip.

Sakura could feel the sudden spike of energy at Trevor words. "You just have to say that, don't you?!" Sakura yelled at him before turning her attention to Alice. "Alice, recall her!" Sakura told the younger girl as she could feel the spirit was building up some energy. "Now!"

Alice closed her eyes and recalled the spirit, but it didn't work. "I, I can't…" She said, scared. "I can't recall her!"

Sakura looked at the spirit and saw that she was gearing up for an attack. She knew she shouldn't attack her because that would only aggravate her further, so she had to play defense.

"Shield!" Sakura cried, bracing for an attack, but it never came.

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt his presence. Her head automatically turned sharply towards the direction where she had felt his magic came from.

Chris too, had felt the presence, although he couldn't pinpoint where it came from and whose presence it was. His attention was quickly brought back at Jess' voice.

"You did it, Alice!" Jess cried in relief as the spirit went back to the necklace.

' _No._ ' Sakura thought. ' _She didn't do it. The spirit wasn't being recalled. She was banished._ ' Sakura continued to look at the window above them. ' _And how long have you been standing there, dear husband?_ ' Sakura asked silently as she glared at the window. But her attention turned to Alice when she heard the girl start crying.

* * *

When Trevor yelled at Chris, both High Priests could feel the spike of energy.

"Shit!" John swore loudly as he saw the spirit was gearing up for an attack. He saw Sakura conjured up a shield to protect herself and her team. John hoped that her shield would be strong enough. However, suddenly John felt Eriol's presence and quickly turned to the young mage. He saw Eriol's hand glowing red and he calmly moved his hand to banish the spirit. John blinked. Such a simple movement and he got rid of the spirit. The spirit was strong and angry, but apparently, Eriol was so much stronger.

After the spirit returned to the necklace, John sighed in relief, but he noticed Sakura was looking at their direction. "Looks like you've been spotted."

"This team will not function as a team." Eriol said as he pulled back his magic.

"It's just one incident." John tried to defend his team. "The girl has a lot of potential. She just needs a little help."

"I'm not talking about her. I'm taking about him." Eriol said simply. "He's aggressive, violent and downright disrespectful."

John looked at Trevor. He was standing there, glaring at Alice's direction. "He's strong, but a little lacking in the self-control department. I thought giving him some structure and a team would help him to gain some self-control. What do you think I should do? Get him out of the team?"

"That's your decision, John. But this is not going to be an isolated incident. The spirit _will_ remember this, remember what he did. The reason she has reacted so strongly towards him from the beginning is because she has sensed his violent tendency and she merely reacted to it." Eriol started walking away.

"Wait." John stopped him. "You're not going to do anything?"

"Why would I? This is your team." Eriol looked at him questioningly. "I'm not going to start doing your job for you. I've got enough workload as it is."

"Because Sakura is involved?" John said carefully. He thought that Eriol would've done something seeing that Sakura was put in danger earlier.

"Sakura is no damsel in distress. She's more than capable of handling herself." Eriol said and then he left.

* * *

When Eriol got home, he took off his shoes, slipped into his slippers and hung his long coat in the entryway closet. "I'm home!" He announced and went to the living room to find his wife waiting for him, looking rather displeased.

"I can explain." Eriol started, even before Sakura said anything.

"Go on then. Explain away." Sakura put her hands on her hips.

"I had some spare time and I was curious about your team, so I thought I would take a quick peek. I saw John there and he told me about Trevor and Alice. So I stayed."

"Have you been watching the training?" Sakura asked, looking at him closely. He wouldn't lie to her, but she wouldn't put it past him to give a 'creative' answer.

"No." He told her honestly. "It was just today."

Sakura considered his words.

"You do know that I can't lie to you?" Eriol pointed out.

Sakura sighed and relaxed. "I know. It's not that I don't want you to watch. But if you're watching, it would feel like… like you don't think I'm capable enough of handling myself with the team."

"I know you can handle yourself. I even told John. He was afraid that I would pull you out after today's incident." Eriol told her.

"Would you?" Now Sakura looked worried.

"No." Eriol said as he loosened his tie. "I wouldn't pull you out just because something happened during training. However, I want you to be very careful when it comes to Trevor. He's violent and aggressive. The spirit was reacting to it, even from the start."

"I know." Sakura took his lunch bag from him and moved to stand behind him to take his jacket off him. "He provoked the attack. It wasn't even the spirit's fault. He called her stupid. Of course she got angry." Sakura held his jacket on her arm. "It's actually a good thing that you were there today. My shield might not have held."

Eriol took off his tie and handed it to her. "Your shield would've held. The energy wasn't that strong. But the attack could get relentless and may escalate."

"Take a shower. I'll heat up dinner." Sakura told him.

Eriol kissed her briefly before going upstairs to take a shower.

* * *

On Monday afternoon, after their lunch break, Sakura followed Chris to the seventh floor of the council building and they made their way to John's office. Chris talked to the secretary briefly and she told them to go ahead.

Chris knocked on the door.

"Enter!" John said from inside.

Chris opened the door. "My Lord, Sakura is here." Chris gestured for Sakura to enter and then he left, closing the door behind him.

"Hello, Sakura. Take a seat." John told her. "There's something that I'd like to discuss with you. It's about what happened on Friday, during training."

Sakura wasn't even surprised. That kind of incident was not something to be taken lightly and John would want to talk to her, and probably everyone else about it.

At her silence, John continued, "What do you think happened?"

"Trevor provoked the spirit." Sakura said. "His words and actions were uncalled for. He was being rude, not only to the spirit, but to Alice as well."

"I spent all weekend thinking about this. Eriol said that the spirit will remember what happened, which is just another way of saying that she will hold a grudge against Trevor. That has put me in a difficult position for now I have to make a choice." John sighed. "I chose this team, hoping that everyone will be able to help each other to grow. But from the look of things, Alice and Trevor will not work well together and we can't take any risk of that kind of thing happening again, especially when you're out there in the field."

Sakura nodded, both in agreement and in understanding.

"Which means I have to remove one of them from the team. So I'd like your input on this matter as I believe that you know them and the team dynamic better than I do since you have spent some time with them. Who do you think should be removed from the team?" John asked her.

Sakura frowned. "Isn't that supposed to be your and Chris' decision?"

"I've asked for his input too, but I also want to hear from you." John said. "You're not like the other members of the team, Sakura. It won't be fair to treat you like one. In fact, it would be an insult to both you and your mentor if I were to treat you like some inexperienced magician. I gave you the spot so that you can help Chris and myself train this team, and in turn, hopefully you'll also learn something along the way."

Sakura thought about her answer carefully. "Removing Alice from the team seems to be the obvious answer since we don't really know what the spirit is capable of and what kind of incident might happen in future in relation to the spirit. However, looking at the situation as a whole and the team dynamic in general, I believe it would be more beneficial for the team to remove Trevor due to his aggressive nature. He has been uncooperative from the start and has been challenging Chris at every turn. He's a strong fighter, but he has no desire to learn anything from the team. If you choose to remove Alice from the team, there would be only myself and Jess left as I don't think Trevor would contribute anything to the team. But if you remove Trevor, I believe that we can still help Alice learn more about herself and the spirit."

John thought about her words. "Do you really believe we can help Alice?"

Sakura nodded. "I do. As long as she's willing to learn, she will be able to grow."

"For you, it's all about the learning, isn't it?" John asked.

"That's the way I'm taught." Sakura told him.

John smiled. "I can see that, yes. With him, it's all about the learning process and that's how he's been teaching you."

Sakura just nodded.

"Very well then, Sakura. It looks like everyone is in consensus in regard to this matter. I will tell Chris to go ahead and ask Trevor to leave the team."

Sakura looked surprised. "So, you _have_ made a decision?"

"I told you, I've thought about this all weekend and I've also talked to Chris. We both agreed that it would be for the best to remove Trevor. And I have a feeling that if I were to ask the young High Priest next door, he would have suggested the same thing although he seems to have chosen not to get involved in this." John told her. "However, I still wanted to hear what you say and now that you've told me what you think, it seems like we're all in agreement."

Sakura just nodded. "It seems like it."

"Alright, that's all, Sakura. Thank you for being honest." John said.

Sakura nodded and got to her feet. "I'll get back to work then." She left and went back downstairs.

The next day, during morning briefing, Chris informed the team that Trevor has left the team. Jess and Alice were surprised.

"Is, is it because of what happened on Friday?" Alice asked worriedly.

"It's not just that, Alice. It's a decision that was made based on what has been happening since this team started a few weeks ago." Chris told them.

"So, is it going to be just us from now on or are we getting a new team member?" Jess asked curiously.

"It's going to be just us. We're going to keep our team small. Then I can focus more on everyone." Chris told them.

"So now, we're like the Charlie's Angels, huh?" Jess laughed. "Or Chris' Angels."

Alice giggled slightly, but the other two looked at her blankly.

"You two don't know?" Jess asked, clearly surprised.

Sakura and Chris shook their heads.

"It's a popular show form, well, years back." Jess explained. "About three badass women who work for a guy named Charlie."

"Ah, sorry. I've never heard of it." Sakura said apologetically. "I grew up in Japan, so I'm not that well versed in Western culture, including the shows and whatnot."

"Neither have I." Chris said. "I grew up here in the UK, but growing up, I didn't watch much TV. Mostly just the news."

"Then we'll have to bring you two up to speed! How about a movie night at my place this Friday?" Jess suggested. "We'll watch Charlie's Angels, the movie!"

Chris and Sakura looked surprised.

Jess suddenly realized that she might not be able to do that. "If, if that's not against the rules, of course, Chris. I mean, you're our boss and all."

Chris shook his head. "No, it's not against the rules. I think it's a good idea. It could be a team bonding activity. If everyone is okay with that, then I'm in."

Jess smiled widely. "What do you say, ladies? Are you up for it?"

Alice and Sakura agreed.

"Bring your husband too, Sakura." Jess said. "The more, the merrier." They all knew Sakura was married. She was wearing a wedding ring after all.

"Ah, no. He's busy." Sakura told them. There was no way she'd be bringing Eriol.

"That's too bad. Well, if it turns out that he has some free time, don't hesitate to bring him along, okay? Then we get to meet Mr. Kinomoto." Jess said cheerfully.

Sakura just smiled and nodded. She wasn't going to tell them that Kinomoto was her maiden name. Jess would ask more questions. Sakura had noticed that Jess was quite liberal with giving out information about her life and she had expected them to return the gesture. She'd told them about her boyfriend, her parents, her friends, etc. Alice was a little more reserved at first, due to her personality, but over time, she also had told them some personal things and the people in her life. It showed that neither of them knew the unspoken rules of their world and the way things were done in the magic world.

Sakura and Chris were way more well versed in their world and its way of conduct, having grown up and been trained in magic for years. They knew that secrets were valued in their world and trust was hard-earned. Secrets and deception were more or less acceptable in the name of self-preservation.

Thus, neither of them shared too much about their personal lives. It was understood. But the rest of the team didn't understand that, yet.

While it was inevitable that they knew she was married, Sakura had let them assume that Kinomoto was her husband's name, not her maiden name. Jess and Alice were curious, of course, but Chris never even brought it up. At first, Sakura had thought of not wearing her wedding ring to work, but she decided that as long as she was careful, it was going to be okay and she didn't want to take it off anyway. Besides, Eriol too had been wearing his ring to work.

They went to the training room and started their daily routines.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hello, guys!" Jess opened the door and greeted her friends. "Come in, sit down. Dinner will be ready soon." Jess escorted them to the sitting room and introduced them to her boyfriend. "This is Matt. Matt, this is Sakura, Alice and Chris. They're my team."

They greeted each other.

"It's nice to meet you. Jess has told me a lot about you." Matt said as he shook their hands enthusiastically.

A few minutes later, dinner was ready and they sat down together to eat.

"Jess said you guys are still training right now and won't be going out to the field until after the holiday. How's that going?" Matt asked during dinner.

"It's going well." Chris said neutrally.

"Oh, that's a relief! I was quite worried. Jess said there was an incident the other day." Matt said.

Chris frowned slightly, but he didn't say anything. Sakura and Alice stayed quiet, for different reasons. Alice was quiet because she remembered what happened that day and what _almost_ happened, while Sakura was surprised that Jess told her boyfriend about that incident.

After dinner, they watched the movie, but neither Chris nor Sakura enjoyed it. They couldn't help but wonder, what else had Jess told her boyfriend? While they pretty much figured out, and expected, Jess would tell her boyfriend about magic, they weren't sure how much she had told him.

After the movie, they bid each other farewell and left. They parted ways with Alice soon after because she was taking the bus, while Sakura and Chris took the train.

"You have to talk to her." Sakura said as they got into the train.

Chris nodded. "I will. This is not entirely unexpected though. They didn't grow up in our world. They don't know the rules."

"I know. Doesn't the NDA cover this?" Sakura asked.

"It does, in a way. I'll talk to her on Monday." Chris said. "To both of them, actually."

"Uh, I kind of broke it too. I discussed about some aspects of our team with my mentor." Sakura admitted. She couldn't point fingers at Jess without acknowledging her own actions.

"Lord Cavendish told me he knows your mentor." Chris said. "So that's okay."

"He did?" Sakura asked in surprise.

Chris nodded. "Whoever your mentor is, that's none of my business. I'm just telling you that it's okay for you to discuss the team with them. I have a feeling Lord Cavendish is doing it too, if he knows them."

Sakura nodded. She would have to talk to Eriol about this.

"This is my stop. See you Monday!" Chris alighted the train.

When Sakura got home, she told Eriol about what happened.

"Chris is right. That's not unexpected. Just be careful as to what kind of things you tell and show them. As to what Chris said, I don't see any harm in that for now. I'm actually thinking that we might have to tell Chris. It would make things easier for everyone involved. But I will discuss it with John first. He knows him better than us, having been his mentor for years now." Eriol said.

"It's a very complicated world we live in." Sakura said. "Now I understand why Syaoran never told his Mom about you, about us. He understands the rules too. Better than I do, which is not surprising, really."

"It's just a matter of exposure. You didn't know too many people in the magic world. But now you do and you're learning." Eriol told her. "You're right. It is a complicated world, especially with this new magic going around."

Sakura sighed. "Well, it's the weekend and the holiday starts soon. Let's just enjoy it and we'll think about it again next year."

Eriol chuckled, but he agreed with her.

* * *

"Oh wow!" Sakura said as they stood in front of the entrance to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park. It was almost Christmas and the place was packed with people, couples, friends and families alike. The park was decorated with bright and colorful Christmas lights and there was a giant Christmas tree.

Beside her, Eriol was smiling widely. "We've been so busy with work, we hardly have any time to go on dates. I miss spending time with you."

Sakura slipped her arm around his. "Me too. Let's go!" She dragged him inside. They had booked the tickets to watch the Zippo Circus and they headed there first.

They queued in front of the circus tent.

"So crowded." Sakura commented as they watch the other visitors. Most of the visitors were families with young children.

Ten minutes later, they entered the circus tent and were directed to the front. Eriol had booked the ringside seats so that they could get the best view. They found a couple of empty seats and sat down.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Sakura said as she placed her purse on her lap. "I've never seen a circus before!"

The lights dimmed and everyone's attention turned to the stage. As they watched the performers, Sakura couldn't tear her eyes form the stage. She was so taken by the performance and had a big smile on her face.

"They're so cool!" Sakura said during intermission. "I need to use the washroom. Be right back." She got up and went to the restroom. She came back just in time for the second half of the performance to start.

After the circus, they shuffled their way out of the tent to explore the rest of the place. Since it was starting to get dark, they could see more of the lights.

They walked around, waiting for their allotted time for the entrance to Magical Ice Kingdom. They'd booked the tickets online too.

"One day, when we have a kid, we should come here again for a visit." Sakura said as she observed a young family nearby.

"Of course. One day, we're going to come again with our kid." Eriol wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I want a little girl with brown hair and green eyes, just like her mom." He grinned.

"Oh, but I want a little boy with dark blue hair and grey eyes. He's going to be so cute." Sakura imagined having mini Eriol running around and smiled widely.

Eriol chuckled. "A boy or a girl, it doesn't matter. As long as our children are happy and healthy. That's all that matters to me."

"I agree." Sakura nodded.

"Come on, it's time to go to the Ice Kingdom." Eriol said.

They made their way to the entrance and showed their tickets to the attendant. "Enjoy!" The young man told them and let them pass.

"Oh my god… This is so great." Sakura looked at the various ice and snow sculptures in amazement. "Whoever carved these are so talented."

"It's depicting the story of Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens." Eriol informed her.

Sakura nodded. She had read the book. "That's right. Let's take a selfie!"

They stood in front of one of the sculptures and Eriol took their selfie. They continued to walk along the pathway, taking more selfies along the way.

After they were done at the Ice Kingdom, they ate dinner at one of the restaurants.

"After this, let's look at the market." Sakura suggested and Eriol easily agreed.

After dinner, they checked out the Christmas market and bought two cups of hot chocolate, with extra marshmallows, at one of the cafés. They sat down and just chatted as they enjoyed the festive atmosphere.

Next, they went to the ferris wheel.

"Whoa!" Sakura looked around. They were near the top and they could see the whole park from here. They could see the Christmas lights sparkling, bright and colorful. "The view is so beautiful!"

"It is." Eriol agreed. He wrapped his arm around her. "I've heard of this festival, but I never came here, for obvious reasons. It's not fun to come here all by myself."

"Well, you're not all by yourself anymore. You have me now." Sakura quickly told him.

"That's right. I have you now. And one day, we'll have kids." Eriol took off his scarf and wrapped it around Sakura when he noticed she was shivering.

"Eriol! You'll be cold!" Sakura protested. It was cold up here. Sakura had her own scarf around her neck, but she was still feeling a little chilly.

"I'll be fine. Besides, I know how to keep myself warm." Eriol grinned mischievously.

"Huh? How?" Sakura asked in confusion. "Magic?"

"Magic." Eriol said before pressing his lips on hers.

Sakura grabbed the lapel of his jacket and pulled him closer as she deepened their kiss.

"I love you." Sakura murmured against his lips after they broke off their kiss.

"I love you too." Eriol wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side.

For the rest of the evening, they just walked around, taking pictures and exploring the various attractions.

* * *

"Telling Chris?" John asked in surprise. He was invited to Christmas dinner at the Hiiragizawa household. They had a nice dinner and now, they were sitting around in the living room.

"Since you've already told him that you know me, we might as well go all the way." Eriol said. "Besides, Sakura has also told him that she's been sharing details about the team with me. Do you think he can be trusted?"

"Of course. I've known him for years." John told them. "He knows better than to say anything to anyone. But are you sure?"

"It's not like we're going to tell him about my past. Just the fact that Sakura is my wife and that I'm her mentor. That's all." Eriol and Sakura had discussed it and had agreed that it would be best to keep Chris in the loop, in case something happened.

"Yes, I know that." John nodded. "But what brought this on?"

"With the team going into the field, it would be better if Chris knows who Sakura is. In case something happened. It's just a precaution. Then Sakura wouldn't need to explain anything, especially not in front of the others." Eriol told John.

"Alright then. If you think that's the best course of action, then let's tell him. I can assure you that Chris can be trusted." John assured them. "Besides, it's not like he doesn't already know you."

After they agreed on that, they decided to tell Chris soon after they got back to work, before the team got their first assignment. They also wanted to see how he reacted to it before John sent them out to the field because Eriol wanted to make sure that Sakura could count on Chris to back her up in the field.

* * *

On New Year's Eve, Sakura and Eriol went to the New Year's Eve countdown party downtown, but they did it in their style.

"It's so crowded." Sakura said as she looked down from her position on top of a building. She, Eriol and their guardians had flown here and took a spot at one of the rooftops to watch the fireworks, which Sakura was very excited about.

They were bundled up in winter clothes as they would be standing on top of a rooftop and it could get pretty cold up here. Sakura was dressed warmly in sweater and skirt, with fleece leggings and walking boots. She was wearing a winter coat, gloves and a beanie on her head. She also wrapped a soft cashmere scarf around her neck for added warmth. Eriol was dressed in shirt and sweater with khakis and walking boots. He topped it off with his long black coat and a dark grey wool scarf.

Since they just wanted to watch the countdown and the fireworks, they had arrived shortly before midnight. It was also to minimalize the time that they had to spend standing in the cold.

"It's going to start soon." Eriol said, not needing a watch to tell that it was almost midnight. He wrapped his arms around his wife from behind to help her stay warm and their guardians stood nearby to block the wind.

"It's like a private viewing spot up here." Kero commented.

"We'll get the best view." Eriol agreed. "We wouldn't see anything from down there." He commented. The crowd was huge and they would have to squeeze if they were down there. Besides, Eriol had always preferred to watch things from higher ground.

"How much longer?" Sakura asked excitedly as she snuggled up to her husband.

"One more minute." Eriol told her. Being the master of time, his inner body clock was always acutely aware of time, down to the seconds.

When the countdown began, Sakura followed the crowd. "3… 2… 1… Happy New Year!" She said excitedly.

"Happy New Year, Saku." Eriol kissed her cheek as the fireworks started.

"Uwaah!" Sakura's eyes widened. It was nothing like she had ever seen before. The fireworks display was so amazing, Sakura couldn't take her eyes off it. It went on and on and she didn't even notice the cold anymore as her attention was focused fully on the fireworks. "This is so incredible!"

They stood there until the end of the fireworks show. Once it was over, they decided to go home because the air was getting colder. They climbed onto their guardians' backs and flew home.

"That was the best fireworks that I've ever seen!" Sakura said as they got into their house. "I thought the ones that we used to see during the summer festival were great. But what we just saw, it was on another level!"

Eriol smiled at her indulgently as he helped her get out of her coat and took her scarf and hat off. "Yes, Saku. That was an impressive show."

Sakura continued to chatter excitedly as they made their way upstairs. She took a shower and climbed into bed as Eriol took his turn in the shower. When he stepped out of the bathroom, Sakura was already asleep.

* * *

Eriol and Sakura arrived at John's house at 7pm. They had gone back to work two days ago and had decided to tell Chris tonight, since John had a meeting with him.

"If he reacts badly, then I'd have to leave the team." Sakura said worriedly.

"Let's not worry about it yet, okay?" Eriol said as he parked the car. They walked up to John's house and rang the doorbell.

Meanwhile, John had briefed Chris about what was going to happen. "The team will go to the field soon. I've talked to Sakura's mentor and we agreed that it would be for the best if you know who he is. Now, I have to stress this, Chris. Whatever happens tonight, whatever you find out tonight, I want you to remember that it's very important that you don't tell anyone else about this. No one."

"I understand. I will not tell a soul." Chris said solemnly, recognizing the importance of this one particular secret. But he was curious as to why and how was that related to the team.

John nodded. "We'll also explain why we do things this way, but again, you must not reveal this to anyone and I expect you to be able to keep up."

Chris nodded in understanding.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"They're here." John went to the door and opened it. "Good evening." He greeted them and stepped aside to let them in.

"Have you briefed him?" Eriol asked as they followed John inside.

"I have. He understands the importance of this and I believe he would be able to keep this a secret." John led them to the sitting room.

Chris stood up as he heard the group getting closer. When John returned, Chris' eyes widened in surprise upon seeing who were with him. "Lord Hiiragizawa?"

"Good evening, Chris." Eriol greeted the other man. Sakura stood beside him.

"Shall we?" John gestured towards the sofa. The two followed him and sat down. Chris just stood there, apparently still in shock. Out of all people, he didn't expect the young High Priest to know Sakura, let alone be her mentor.

"Sit down, Chris." John told him.

Chris quickly sat down, but still looked at the two other guests. Sakura looked quite nervous, but the blue haired mage looked calm.

"You might want to re-introduce yourself, Sakura." John told the young sorceress. They had decided to take a direct approach with this matter.

"Re-introduce yourself?" Chris asked, confused.

Sakura nodded. "When we first met, I introduced myself as Sakura Kinomoto. But Kinomoto is actually my maiden name. My name is Sakura Hiiragizawa. Eriol is not just my mentor, but he's also my husband." Since Chris knew of Eriol's name, she didn't bother using his formal title.

Chris stared at them.

"I believe John has told you how important it is to keep this from anyone else, including all of the council and your own team?" Eriol asked.

To his credit, Chris was quick in getting over his shock. "Yes, my Lord."

"Good. Now, do you know why?" Eriol asked again.

"Yes." Chris nodded. "If people found out that Sakura is your wife, it would put her at disadvantage." Now he understood why they had to keep this a secret. The wife of the youngest High Priest… No wonder John told him that she was special.

Both John and Eriol seemed satisfied with his answer.

"We decided to tell you because Sakura is a member of your team and it would be easier for everyone, myself included, if you know about this." Eriol said. "Going forward, I expect you to not give her any special treatment just because she's my wife. She's there to learn, from you as well as from the others. Do you understand?"

Chris nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I understand."

"Needless to say, we would really appreciate it if you can keep up with the ruse. As far as other people are concerned, Sakura is just a member of your team, and nothing else." Eriol told him. "Whatever you've learned tonight, I expect this to stay within this room, just between the four of us."

"I understand. Thank you for trusting me with this, my Lords, Sakura." Chris nodded.

"Sakura, do you have anything to add?" Eriol turned to her.

Sakura smiled at Chris. "I'm looking forward to learning from you, Chris. Like Eriol said, please don't give me any special treatment. I will still train and learn like the others."

Chris nodded. "Of course, Sakura."

"Well, if there's nothing else, then I think that would be all for today. We'll talk more as we go along, see if we need to make any adjustments along the way, although I believe that shouldn't be necessary." John said.

Eriol nodded and he stood up. The rest followed suit. "That will be all for now. We'll see how it goes. Good night, gentlemen."

With that, Eriol and Sakura left.

As he sat down with Chris, John looked at him seriously and said, "Listen to me very carefully, Chris. It is imperative that you keep this from others. I know we've been telling you this over and over again, but I'm going to tell you my own reason why. Eriol Hiiragizawa is not someone that you want to mess with. He's a very powerful magician and he's extremely protective of his wife. If you pissed him off, not even I would be able to help you. Now, this is not a threat. This is to inform you of the consequences if words got out. So, for your own sake, you really have to take this seriously and make sure that you do what he has asked you to do, or not to do."

Chris nodded solemnly. "I understand. To be honest, Sakura has proven herself to be a valuable member of the team and she has also helped me a lot. I appreciate her for who she is and what she can do, not for who her mentor is, or even who her husband is. She has also proven herself to be more than capable. I think Sakura is a strong magician in her own rights."

John nodded. "Very good. And you're right. Parts of her skills came from what Eriol has taught her, but Sakura herself is something special. Learn from her too and don't hesitate to ask for her help or opinion. She's not to be underestimated."

"Yes, my Lord." Chris agreed.

* * *

"That went well." Sakura said in the car as they drove home. "He looked shocked, understandably, but he seems to take it well."

"Yes. I'll leave it to you to take care of the smaller details. Just remember, be careful around the others." Eriol said.

Sakura nodded. "I think Chris also has talked with them about telling their friends and family about the team. I hope that they'll understand. I can't work if I second-guess whether they would tell someone else every time I want to do something." Sakura said worriedly. What happened with Jess and her boyfriend had bothered her. "I can't ask her outright if she has told him or anyone else about my magic, but the not knowing is making me nervous too."

"Talk to Chris about it, ask him to talk to the two of them." Eriol suggested. "You're going into the field. I don't want you to be nervous."

Sakura nodded. "I will."

* * *

Sakura was glad that things didn't change after Chris found out about who she was. He treated her just the same and he never mentioned anything about Eriol. They also talked about what happened with Jess and her boyfriend and Chris assured her that he had talked to them separately and had stressed the importance of keeping the team's activities and its members a secret, even from their friends and family. They had done what they could from their end, and now it was up to Jess and Alice to follow.

"Sorry I'm late!" Sakura apologized as she entered the meeting room to find the rest of her team were already there. "Traffic was terrible."

"Traffic? I thought you take the train, Sakura?" Jess asked with a frown.

"Oh, um, I woke up late, so I took a taxi." Sakura lied while silently apologizing to her husband for calling him a taxi service. There was an accident in the highway and it took them longer than usual to get to the office.

"That's okay, Sakura. Please take a seat." Chris said. Now that he knew the truth, he knew Sakura definitely didn't take trains, or taxi, to work. "Alright, ladies. Today is the day. We're finally going into the field, but it will be a supervised field trip. Lord Cavendish would come with us and make sure that everything goes smoothly. Now, there's no need to be nervous. He's there just to observe. Just remember what we've been training for and you'll be fine, okay?" Chris told them during morning briefing. He then proceeded to tell them what their first assignment was going to be and handed them the case files.

Alice and Jess were visibly nervous, and so was Sakura, but not for the same reason as the other two. Sakura knew who she was and what she was capable of. She was confident in her own magic and knew that she had complete control over it.

Problem was, she couldn't say the same about the other two.

Even after weeks of training, Jess could still be clueless as what to do at times and Alice still hadn't gained enough control of her spirit buddy. Neither Sakura nor Chris knew how to banish a spirit, so if anything went wrong in that department, they'd just have to make do with what they have.

After the morning briefing, they did their training and then took their lunch break. John joined them after everyone got back from their lunch.

"Good afternoon, ladies. I hope you're ready for your first field trip. I'll be coming with you, but just pretend I'm not there, okay?" John told them smilingly.

They made their way down to the parking garage and got into one of the cars. About thirty minutes later, they got to their destination.

"Okay, we're here. The artifact should be somewhere around here." Chris said as they got out of the car. "Most probably, it would be guarded, so keep your guard up. Alice, you're with me, and Jess, go with Sakura."

The four split up and headed to two different directions. John wandered off on his own, but he stayed close to both groups. About five minutes later, Chris and Alice stumbled upon the artifact and as expected, it was guarded. Chris summoned his sword as Sakura and Jess rushed over to their location.

Sakura ran while mumbling her incantation. "Release!"

The beast roared and charged towards Alice, who froze in place.

"Windy!" Sakura cast her card and the Windy created a small air cyclone that threw the beast off course.

"Alice, summon the spirit!" Chris told the younger girl.

Alice seemed to be startled back into action at Chris' words and she summoned her spirit. The spirit blasted at the beast, but it got back to its feet quickly.

"It doesn't work." Sakura realized. ' _Okay, Sakura. Think!_ ' Sakura looked around. In the background, she could see Chris tried to fight off the beast. But it seemed that whatever attack he threw at it, it seemed to get back up and ready for another round. Sakura frowned. ' _The beast is being powered by something else. The source of energy must be here somewhere._ ' She thought. "Fly!" Sakura got into the air.

Sakura flew around the place to find the energy source. ' _There!_ ' It seemed like the source of energy came from a disc-like stone. "Thunder!" Sakura cast her card and broke the disc-like stone in half. The moment it was broken, the beast disappeared.

"What?" Chris and the others looked around.

"Where did it go?" Jess asked in confusion.

John grinned widely. He watched the whole thing from the side. The team was still awkward, especially the two girls, but Sakura's performance was impressive. Essentially, she had singlehandedly ended the battle without even fighting.

"Sakura?" Jess looked surprised to see Sakura landing on her feet. "Did you… fly?"

Sakura nodded. "The beast was composed of pure energy. It wouldn't stop until the source was destroyed. I tried to find the source." She then held out two halves of the disc. "This is the source. And I believe, this is the artifact that we're looking for." Sakura produced another object from her bag. It was a small medallion.

The rest of the team, including Chris, were impressed. Chris opened the box that was meant to hold magical object and Sakura carefully put it inside.

"Let's get this back to the office." Chris said and the rest agreed.

They started walking back to the car, but John hung back. "Sakura, a word, please."

Sakura stopped walking while the others continued walking.

John waited until the rest of the team to get out of earshot before he spoke. "Very impressive. But then again, I expect nothing less from you." John had had a high expectation of her and he wasn't disappointed. Chris was a skillful fighter, but his training focused more on his leadership skills, while Sakura clearly was trained to fight and to think on her feet at the same time. John expected nothing less from Eriol's student and she wasn't just any student to begin with.

"Thank you." Sakura thanked him.

"How did you know?" John asked as they started walking back to the car slowly.

"It kept coming back up even though both Alice's spirit and Chris have attacked it. It got me thinking that it didn't actually have a real physical form, which means it was an energy projection. Then it's just a matter of finding the source." Sakura explained.

"Or you could keep fighting and drained it eventually." John pointed out.

"That would work too. But it would take a long time." Sakura nodded and hesitated. She glanced at the team, who was still far ahead. "Eriol doesn't like to drag the fight unnecessarily. He likes to go straight to the source whenever possible. I guess, I picked that up from him."

"I see. Like teacher, like student." John smirked.

They kept walking until they finally got to the car and drove back to the office. Once they got back, John did a short debrief with the team.

"I look forward to reading your reports on this." John told them and then he left.

Chris turned in the artifact to the record department and then the team spent the rest of the day writing their reports. Since it was their first time writing an actual report, it took them longer than they'd like, but they finally finished writing their report at around 5pm.

"Finally!" Jess said as she packed her bag. "Let's get out of here." The office was mostly empty by then, since most employees had gone home around 4.30pm.

"See you tomorrow. Good work today, ladies!" Chris told them as they left.

They made their way to the elevator and chatted as they waited. When the door opened, Sakura paused briefly in surprise upon seeing who was already inside.

Eriol was standing in the elevator and it looked like he was leaving too. He had his bag with him and was currently looking at his phone. He didn't even looked up as they entered the elevator. Since Jess and Alice didn't know him (nobody really did), they continued to chat and didn't pay him any attention.

They reached the first floor and the girls stepped outside into the lobby. That was when Sakura's phone dinged. She took it out from her bag and saw a text. ' _Meet you at the back._ ' The text said, in Japanese, just in case her friends saw it too.

"You're not going to take the train, Sakura?" Jess asked as Sakura bid them farewell at the front. She was going to the opposite direction from the station.

"No, I have to buy something." Sakura lied smoothly.

"Okay then! See you tomorrow!" They parted ways.

Sakura walked along the sidewalk and turned to the street where she got dropped off every morning. She walked a little further and spotted his car.

Sakura grinned as she opened the door and climbed in. "Good evening, my Lord." She greeted him teasingly, using his formal title.

"Good evening, my love." Eriol returned, his grin just as wide. "Overtime?"

"We had our first field work today and so we had to write a report." Sakura put on her seatbelt as he drove off.

"How did the field trip go?" Eriol asked.

Sakura told him about it.

"Good work." Eriol smiled at her. "I'm so proud of you."

Sakura smiled widely.

"How about we get fish and chips for dinner?" Eriol suggested and Sakura agreed.


	6. Chapter 6

"Congratulations, Nakuru!" Sakura said enthusiastically.

"Thank you! Thank you for being here, and agreeing to this too." Nakuru thanked them sincerely.

"You know we wouldn't miss it for the world." Sakura smiled widely. "It's almost time, we should get going, boys." She opened her bag and Kero and Spinel got into her bag. They were in the dressing room in a small chapel in Ireland. Nakuru was getting married today and she had invited them.

Inside the chapel, Sakura sat down at the pew and put her bag on her lap so that the guardians could watch the ceremony too.

A few minutes later, the wedding music started and Sakura grinned as she and the other guests turned towards the entrance.

Nakuru appeared at the entrance, holding onto Eriol's arm with one hand and her bouquet with another. Sakura couldn't believe that the over-excited guardian had grown into this beautiful and graceful young woman in her white wedding dress. She was so happy for the former guardian as she watched her walk down the aisle on Eriol's arm.

They reached the altar and Eriol gave her away to her soon-to-be husband before taking a seat. Since it was a small ceremony, there weren't many guests and the ceremony was attended only by their close friends and family.

The ceremony was followed by a small reception.

"Too bad I can't drink beer." Eriol said regretfully.

"Honestly, I don't think I need any drink. I'm so happy for her." Sakura was smiling widely.

The music started and they watched the newlyweds have their first dance. After that, the rest of the guests were encouraged to join them on the dance floor.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Eriol asked, holding out his hand, with a smile on his face.

Sakura giggled and placed her hand in his. "Yes, of course, sir."

Eriol led her to the dance floor. He wrapped one arm around her waist and held her hand with his other hand as they swayed to the music. "You look very beautiful, my love."

"Not as beautiful as the bride I hope." Sakura said, but she was smiling gently.

"She looks beautiful, indeed. I can't believe that she's actually getting married." Eriol confessed. He was surprised when they received the wedding invite in the mail, and even more so when she emailed him personally to ask him to walk her down the aisle.

Sakura knew what he meant as she had shared his surprise. "She has matured a great deal."

"I'm glad." Eriol nodded. After he let her go, he had been worried that they had made the wrong decision.

"You did the right thing, Hii. She's happy. That's the most important thing." Sakura said softly, knowing what he was thinking about.

Eriol smiled. "Yes, you're right. She's happy."

After their dance, they continued to enjoy the reception. At one point, Eriol even danced with Nakuru. He truly was happy for her and he could see that she too, was happy and she was doing well.

After the reception, they wished the couple happiness one more time before going back to the hotel. They'd be leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow as Eriol had an important meeting that he couldn't afford to miss.

* * *

Sakura and her team continued to work and train. While there was some improvement, it still wasn't enough. As a result, Sakura and Chris were forced to do most of the heavy lifting in the field.

"Jump!" Sakura jumped out of the way as she tried to dodge the giant creature, only to be swatted by the giant hand. Sakura was thrown across the air and slammed onto the ground. "Ouch!"

"Sakura!" Chris called out worriedly.

"I'm okay!" Sakura rubbed her shoulder. Oh, she was definitely going to get some serious bruises, but it was due to her own carelessness. She contemplated using the Big to just face it head on, but worried that she might do more harm than good. Besides, she didn't want to have a wrestling match with a gorilla.

Sakura got back to her feet. "Jess, see if you could restraint it!"

Jess tried, and failed, to restraint the giant.

"Alice, recall the spirit! She's just pissing it off!" Chris told Alice, who promptly recalled the spirit, automatically rendered the girl useless since she had nothing else to offer, not even a combat skill.

"We need to get that thing off it!" Sakura said, referring to the artifact that was the culprit in creating this giant creature. It was actually an ordinary gorilla, but the artifact around its neck had turned it into this thing.

"How?!" Jess asked. She tried to again restraint it, but she couldn't hold on.

Sakura thought hard. "Think! Think!" She told herself, mentally running through her cards. She had tried to use Small, but it didn't work due to the artifact.

"Ah!" Sakura suddenly got an idea. She didn't know this one was going to work, but there was no harm trying. "Sleep!"

The Sleep worked her magic and tried to put the giant gorilla to sleep. "C'mon, c'mon…" Sakura muttered quietly. After just a few seconds, the creature started swaying and then fell down.

"Watch out!" Chris jumped out of the way so that he wouldn't get crushed under the giant creature that landed onto the ground with a loud thud.

Once it had lain on the ground unmoving, Chris quickly climbed up to grab the artifact. "I cannot pull the damn thing! It's too big!" He said in horror.

The rest of the team climbed up and together they tried to tug it off, but the chain held fast.

"This is ridiculous!" Jess said, sitting on the creature's chest.

"Power!" Sakura finally cast and then she hugged the artifact and pulled it off with all her might. The chain broke, throwing her backwards, but both the artifact and the creature immediately got smaller, which was good because otherwise Sakura would get crushed under the artifact.

"Uh, Sakura?" The rest of the team looked at her.

"Got it!" Sakura held up the now-small artifact. "Ow!" Her movement had put an unexpected strain of her shoulder.

"You okay?" Jess helped her to her feet.

"Yeah." Sakura rubbed her shoulder. "Going to get a nasty bruise, but I'll live."

They all looked at the sleeping gorilla.

"Uh, so what are we going to do with it?" Sakura asked, voicing out the question that was on everyone's mind.

The rest of them looked at each other, but then they all looked at Chris.

"I guess, we'll have to call animal control…" Chris said.

The person from the animal control was very confused but said that they would be there. Not wanting to deal with unwanted questions, they quickly left.

"What a day!" Jess said as they piled up into the car. "I'm going to have to write the report quickly. I have a date tonight."

"Oh, right. It's Valentine's Day." Alice remembered. "Good for you. I'm just going to eat dinner by myself."

"Write the report quickly, but please write a proper report." Chris reminded Jess, who smiled sheepishly.

"I know, Chris. How about you, Sakura? Any hot date with the hubby tonight?" Jess turned to her friend with a grin. Sakura had always been very secretive about her relationship and that only made Jess more curious about it. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked worriedly as she saw Sakura wincing in pain.

"I'm fine. Nothing that a nice hot bath and a couple of Aspirin wouldn't fix." She assured them. ' _And a little magic._ ' She added silently. ' _He's not going to be happy._ ' Sakura thought.

"Good thing it's Friday. Then you can rest during the weekend." Jess said. "If you don't feel better by tomorrow, go see a doctor. Might be more serious than it looks."

"Yeah, I will." Sakura nodded.

They got back to the office and quickly wrote the report. Everyone seemed to be eager to get out of there as soon as possible, which was the usual mood on Friday.

Sakura got a text from Eriol, telling her that he'd pick her up at home at six and take her out to a dinner.

At four, Sakura handed in her report to Chris.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Chris asked worriedly, looking at the odd way she was holding up her shoulder.

"I'm okay." Sakura gave him a reassuring smile. "Is there anything else that you need me to do? If there's nothing else, I'd like to go home a little earlier today, if that's okay."

"There's nothing else, Sakura. Go home, get some rest. I'll see you on Monday. Do get it looked at if you need to." Chris told her.

"Alright. Thanks a lot, Chris. See you on Monday!" Sakura told him and then left.

"Not fair! How are you done with your report already?!" Jess asked when she saw Sakura packing her bag.

"If you focus on actually writing the report instead of your upcoming date, then you could've been done by now." Sakura pointed out and Alice laughed. The youngest girl was almost done with her own report, but she wasn't rushing, seeing that she had nothing to do in the evening.

"Please tell me that at least you have a date?" Jess asked Sakura.

Sakura looked at her and then sighed. "Yes, I have a date. Happy?"

"Oh, yes! That's awesome!" Jess gave her a thumb up. "Have fun!"

"You too. See you on Monday!" Sakura grabbed her bag and left. She was going to take a taxi home since she had to get ready for her date.

* * *

"Oww…" Sakura yelped in pain as she took off her sweater. She looked at her shoulder and winced. "Damnit!" Sakura saw the blue, purple and black bruise on her shoulder. It looked really bad and it hurt too.

Sakura quickly stripped off the rest of her clothes and stepped into the shower. She turned on the hot water and sighed in relief as the water provided some soothing feeling on her achy muscles. Her shoulder was bruised, but she had hit the ground, so her muscles were achy and sore.

After her shower, Sakura put on her dress. It was a long sleeved dark blue dress and she also put on a pair of stockings since it was in the middle of February and the weather was still cold. Sakura then sat down in front of her vanity table to do her makeup. She applied some light makeup and chose her jewelry for the evening.

Sakura picked a nice white gold necklace with a round sapphire pendant. She also put on a pair of sapphire earrings to match the necklace. She would put her key in her bag with her cards.

Satisfied with her look, Sakura checked the time, 5.35pm. She made her way downstairs and to the kitchen. She opened the medicine cabinet and took a painkiller as her shoulder was throbbing painfully.

At 5.50pm, Eriol showed up at the door with a bouquet of red roses. A dozen of them, just like what he had been giving her for the past seven years without fail, even when they were separated by the ocean.

"Happy Valentine's Day, love." He handed her the flowers and kissed her gently. "You look wonderful."

"Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day to you too." Sakura went to put the flowers in the vase. She then went back to the front door and put on her coat, keeping her back to him so that he wouldn't see her wincing because she was sure the date would be over before it even started if he knew. Lucky for her, the dress covered the bruise and the painkiller seemed to be working as the pain on her shoulder had lessened somewhat. "We're going! Kero, your dinner is in the warmer!" She yelled as she put on her shoes.

"Okay! Have fun!" Kero yelled back from the living room.

"Thanks for the chocolate. I love you too." Eriol told her as he drove them to the restaurant. Sakura had packed him some chocolate in his lunch bag and had put in a little love note with it.

"You're welcome." Sakura smiled at him happily. "Where are we going?"

"We have a reservation at Ligo's." Eriol told her with a smile.

"No way! You managed to get a reservation?" Sakura asked, surprised. Ligo's was an exclusive upscale restaurant and usually the reservation had to be made weeks in advance. They had been wanting to try it, but it only opened during certain times and they hadn't managed to get any reservation.

"I had to make the reservation back in October. But yes, I managed to snatch us a table." He sounded proud of this little achievement.

Sakura gaped at him. "October?!"

He nodded. "Yes, but even back then, there were not many time slots available."

"Oh wow…" Sakura just shook her head in amazement.

They arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes later.

"Shall we?" Eriol offered her his arm and she took it. Her shoulder was aching, but the pain was mostly gone, thanks to the painkiller. She just had to survive dinner and she was determined to, since he had made the reservation months in advance.

"Good evening. Welcome to Ligo's. Can I get your name, please?" The hostess greeted them.

"Good evening. It's Hiiragizawa." Eriol told her.

"Please follow me." The hostess said and led them to their table after confirming their reservation. They sat down and the hostess handed them the menu. "A waitstaff will be with you shortly."

"Thank you." Eriol thanked her and then they looked at the menu.

"I don't even know half of these stuff." Sakura said softly as she looked at the list of food. She also noticed the lack of pricing. But unlike in the past, when she would fret about the price of things, now Sakura just took it in stride. It showed just how much she had changed and adapted to this lifestyle. Of course she still wasn't going to waste money unnecessarily, but now she was more used to the luxury that came with money. She asked Eriol once, if he had wanted to lead a simple life, then why did he want to earn so much money? His answer had surprised her.

_"It's not for me, it's for you." He told her simply. "While I want to lead a simple life, I still want to give you the best. Unfortunately, in this day and age, most of the times, it involves money."  
_

Now that Sakura knew the extent of his, well, their wealth, she felt more at ease about buying nice things for herself from the allowance money that he gave her. Even though she worked and earned her own salary, Eriol still gave her monthly allowance, a generous one too. His various investments, properties, and centuries' worth of the Reed's family wealth at his disposal meant that they could afford to live in luxury. Sakura still remembered her shock when he showed her the Reed's family vault under their house. The room was like a small library, but instead of books, it was filled with gold bars stacked neatly on the shelves. The gold had been there for centuries since they were living in the original Reed family house that was owned by Clow himself and the vault could only be opened by Eriol and Sakura as it required spells and their magical signatures.

They decided on their food and placed their orders.

"Would you like some wine or champagne to go with your food?" The waiter asked.

They both declined.

"Place looks really nice." Sakura said, looking around as they waited for their food.

"Looks high class. Not too many tables too. No wonder it's very difficult to get a reservation. Seems like they're limiting number of guests." Eriol observed. The tables were spaced out and there couldn't be more than ten tables in total and not surprisingly, the restaurant was fully booked.

"Hm." Sakura agreed. She took a sip of her water. She had brought along the painkiller, in case she needed extra dosage, but for now, she'd manage.

The food was wonderful. They both enjoyed it very much and they finished off with some desserts.

"That was worth the wait." Sakura said after they finished eating. She wiped her mouth with the napkin and drank some water.

"I agree." He said, smiling happily.

Eriol paid and then they walked to the door. By now, the ache on her shoulder had developed into something more painful. As they waited for their car to be brought around, Eriol moved his hand from her back to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. Sakura involuntarily gasped in pain and winced.

"Saku?" Eriol asked in surprise, immediately releasing her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sakura tried to reassure him.

"That is not nothing. What happened?" He demanded to know.

"Uh, funny thing happened at work. We went to the field today and..." Sakura started to explain, but their car arrived. "I'll tell you in the car."

They got into the car and he drove off. "Tell me what happened."

"So, yeah, we had to retrieve this artifact that turned this normal sized gorilla into a giant gorilla. It was so big and…"

"Get to the point, Sakura. What happened to you?" Eriol asked, noting that she was trying to be evasive.

She sighed. "I was careless and the gorilla swatted me and I got slammed down to the ground." Sakura finally said.

"What?!" He hit the brake in surprise and turned to her. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Sakura told him.

Eriol turned his attention back to the road and composed himself. "Where are you hurt?" His voice quiet.

"My shoulder. I'm also sore and achy all over." Sakura admitted.

"Don't ever do this again, Sakura. Don't keep things like this from me. If you're hurt, you have to tell me. Do you understand?" Eriol said quietly after a few seconds.

Sakura could tell that he was upset, so she just nodded meekly and kept her eyes down. "I understand." She replied, just as quietly.

The remaining of their drive was silent. They reached home and she went upstairs. He followed her. They got into their bedroom and he closed the door behind them.

Wordlessly, he stood behind her to unzip her dress and slip it off her shoulders to reveal the bruise. Still not saying anything, Eriol's hand glowed red as he started healing her.

For her part, Sakura lowered her gaze to the floor. Now she'd done it. She'd ruined the evening and made him upset. As he healed her, Sakura started crying silently.

"Sakura?" Eriol noticed her shoulders shaking and heard her soft sniffles. "Am I hurting you?"

Sakura shook her head, but his words only made her cry harder. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand as her sniffles turned into sobs.

Eriol wanted to pull her into his arms, but he had to finish healing her first. A minute later, she was healed. He immediately turned her around and pulled her into a hug.

Sakura buried her face in his shirt as she cried. "I'm sorry…" She said in between sobs. "I ruined everything and I made you upset. I'm sorry…"

Eriol wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Shh… It's okay now. Please don't cry. It's okay…" He kissed her hair gently. "I'm not upset with you. I'm upset at myself. I should've noticed that you're hurt."

Sakura shook her head. "Please don't be upset. It's my fault. I should've told you."

Eriol pulled back and held her at arms' length. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just… It's Valentine's Day and we haven't had a date in a few weeks. And then you've made the reservation at Ligo's and I just wanted us to have a nice evening." Sakura told him.

"Sakura, it's not about the restaurant. The point is for us to spend time together and enjoy it, not eating in some posh place while you're in pain. If we had ended up in some fish and chips place, or even if we had ended up eating at home, I'm still going to enjoy that, as long as I'm with you." Eriol told her.

Sakura just nodded.

"Now, c'mon. You said you're aching all over. Let me run you a nice hot bath." Erioll told her, smiling softly. "You can tell me about this giant gorilla."

Sakura perked up at that. She smiled at him and let him lead her to the bathroom.

"So Chris had to call animal control because we didn't know what to do with it. The person was so confused, but we left before they came and asked us how we ended up with a sleeping gorilla." Sakura finished up her story. They both ended up in the bathtub together and Sakura was sitting in front of him, with her back leaning against his chest as she told him about what happened.

Eriol wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her healed shoulder. "How fascinating."

"It was pretty funny, actually. Especially when we tried to pull that artifact off its neck. It was so big." Sakura recalled.

"That's a very interesting tale, but let's not talk about gorillas anymore." Eriol said as he ran his hand across her skin. "Our date got interrupted, but the night is still young. Let's enjoy it." He placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder.

"Yes, that's right." Sakura agreed as she turned her head to kiss him.

A while later, they stepped out of the bathtub, drained the cooled water and got ready for bed.


	7. Chapter 7

Sakura wandered around the old section in the library. It was clear that this section didn't have many visitors since the shelf and the books were covered in thick dust. But Sakura had wanted to check it out. It was after lunch and Jess and Alice were busy with their reports, while Sakura had finished hers earlier this morning.

As she perused the books, her eyes caught one particular book. She took it off from the shelf. The book itself wasn't thick and it had an old leather cover. She wiped the dust that covered the front of the book to reveal its title. "The Life of Clow Reed" was written on the cover in gold cursive.

Sakura opened the book. To her relief, it was in English, but it was the old English, so she would have to check out the meaning of some of the words. The pages were old, so she handled it very carefully. She started reading as she stood there in front of the shelf.

The first chapter of the book depicted the early life of Clow. It talked about his parents, his heritage and the era that he was born in. Sakura knew some of them, but she read everything anyway. After she finished the first chapter, Sakura looked at the time and saw that she needed to get back to the office. So she returned the book back to the shelf.

The next day, Sakura finished her lunch quickly and told her friends that she needed to check out something in the library. Once there, she went back to the shelf and picked up the book. Not bothering to go back to the reading area, Sakura slid down to the floor and started reading. Since this section was pretty much deserted, she wasn't worried about any interruption. As she read, she could tell that the author had known Clow to certain extent, but there were things that they didn't know, mostly about Clow's personality. According to the book, Clow was a recluse, which was true, but the book said that he was also arrogant and he actively avoided getting involved in relationships and friendships, which was not quite true.

* * *

"Kero, can I ask you something about Clow?" Sakura asked as she prepared dinner that evening.

"Clow? Yeah, sure. But shouldn't Eriol be able to tell you more? Seeing that he _was_ Clow and all." Kero answered.

"I can't really ask him. It's not that I don't want to, I just don't think he'd be the right person to answer my question." Sakura said. "It has to be you."

"Why me?" Kero asked curiously from his place on the kitchen counter. He was eating a cupcake that Sakura had bought earlier.

"Because you're the only one who have lived with both versions, Clow and Eriol. Spinel doesn't know Clow and Yue doesn't really know Eriol. So, it has to be you."

"Okay…" Kero was genuinely curious now. "What do you want to know?"

"How different are they? Clow and Eriol? I know they're the same person, but Eriol said their personalities are different somehow. So, what do you think?" Sakura asked as she seasoned the meat.

Kero looked thoughtful. Sakura was right, he was the only one who could answer that question. "Hm… They're actually exactly the same. But yet different. Eriol is more modern, obviously. But he's also… different." Kero paused to gather his thoughts. "I'm not sure how to explain it. Eriol is… rougher around the edges. Clow was a very calm person, and Eriol is too, but he's a bit quicker to act and react, but that's probably because of the demand of today's world. We're living in a very different time than Clow was after all. Faster pace and more demanding, so he'd have to adapt to that as well. Eriol is also stronger than Clow, which is expected, given that he picked up where Clow left off."

"He is? I mean, I know he'll get stronger as he learns more, given his Gift, but how much stronger do you think?" Sakura asked.

"I can't tell you for sure, but he's definitely stronger and he'll continue to get stronger and more and more powerful. One distinct difference that I can tell is that Eriol is less… kind, compared to Clow. But it could be because he's being protective of you and he's also influenced by the world today, but in general, he's just a little… harsher. If I have to put it into simple terms, Eriol is Clow 2.0, a more modern, more powerful, but less compassionate version of Clow."

"Clow 2.0?" Sakura asked in astonishment.

Kero nodded. "It's very difficult to distinguish the two as they have the same exact personalities and are essentially one person, Eriol is Clow and vise versa, but yes, he's sort of an improved version of Clow, with less compassion. But at the same time, he's also more emotional, which is definitely because of you. Thus, a lot of his actions are driven by his feelings for you."

Sakura was silent as she considered Kero's words.

"I never really thought about it, but there's something missing. There's one element that makes them different, I just don't know what it is. Eriol loves you, that makes a big difference in terms of how he handles things and his actions, but there's definitely something missing." Kero told her.

* * *

"It's one of Clow's Gifts." Eriol told her later that night as they were in bed together. Sakura had decided to ask him directly about it, since Kero didn't seem to know.

"Which one?" Sakura knew both Clow and Eriol had a lot of them.

"The Gift of the heart. Clow had it, I don't, not really. That's the missing element. Without that Gift, I don't have the same level of compassion that Clow had."

"The Gift of the heart?" Sakura was surprised. "Wait, you can lose your Gift?"

"No, you can't lose it. Clow gave it away." Eriol said. "He gave it to your Dad."

Sakura was speechless. That was totally unexpected. "My Dad?"

Eriol nodded. "When he put that soul essence into your Dad, he gave that Gift to him alongside the soul. That Gift was then passed down to you."

"What?!" Sakura gaped at him. "You mean, Dad has a Gift and it was… Clow's?"

"Yes. As to why I'm different from Clow, that Gift and my feelings for you are the only things that make me different from Clow. If I had that Gift, then I would be 100% Clow, but that Gift was given to your Dad."

"But you said Clow didn't love anyone romantically throughout his lifetime." Sakura frowned.

"A Gift could manifest differently, and so does love, remember? With Clow, it manifested itself in the form of compassion for others. With your Dad, it manifests itself in both love and compassion." Eriol explained. "Just like it does with you."

"I see... Well, Dad _is_ a very compassionate person. So, his compassion is mostly because of the Gift?" Sakura was so surprised with this new information.

"Hm… If I were to put it into numbers, I'm about 95% of Clow. That 5% is that Gift. It looks small, but enough to make a difference in terms of how I feel and behave towards other people. However, that 5% is a lot for your Dad, which is why he's a very compassionate person and his love for your mother was, is so intense."

Sakura was still trying to process it all. "I, wow… That's a lot to take in. So, what makes you, you, and not Clow is that Gift?"

Eriol nodded. "Along with my own feelings for you, but yes. It's that Gift, which has become your Gift too. If we combined your Gift with mine, we both would make a Clow. You literally complete me." He smirked.

Sakura blushed, then she hit him with a pillow. "You're saying silly things."

"I'm telling the truth!" He protested, but he was still smirking.

"But, if you don't have the Gift, then how could your feelings for me be so intense?"

"It is possible to love someone without any Gift, you know? Look at Touya and Yukito. Neither of them has the Gift, but they still love each other." Eriol pointed out. "The Gift could make it easier though, which is why your love for me grows so much in a shorter period of time." He paused. "You do love me very much, right?" He leaned in for a kiss.

"Yes, yes." She said absently as she pushed his face away, making him pout slightly. "Touya and Yukito's love is not as intense as yours though." Sakura had seen it. It was intense, but not as intense as Eriol's love for her, or maybe it was just her own biased opinion.

"Well, it's also magic, time, and the part of the Gift that's left in me that responded to your Gift." Eriol said and grinned. "Also because you're very cute."

Another pillow whack. "Be serious!"

"Woman, stop hitting me with your pillow! I'm being very serious." He told her seriously. "Clow gave that Gift away, but it's not completely gone. It's like this, he gave that small essence of soul to your Dad, with the majority of the Gift, but there's a small part of it that's left in the rest of his soul, which then became me. I do have that Gift, but it was so small that it's basically not there. But it still responds to your Gift because they came from the same source." He explained.

Sakura looked thoughtful. "It's almost as complicated as the reincarnation itself."

"I'm less kind than Clow was, or your Dad is. But Clow knew that if the Gift is completely gone, I could easily lose myself. So he left some part of it in me. But most of it went to your Dad, then to you. Clow's Gift of the heart wasn't as strong as yours now, to be honest. I've told you, a Gift is just a Gift. It's up to you whether you want to develop it or not. Clow chose to develop his Gift of the mind more than the heart. It's also why he wanted me to get to know you first before magic because he wanted to make sure I wouldn't go astray with the power that I have, to make sure I know that you're the most important thing. Do you remember what I told you a long time ago? That I'm learning from you as much as you learn from me?" Eriol asked and she nodded. "I learn about compassion from you. Don't you see, Saku? You're the one who taught me how to be kind, how to be compassionate."

"Is, is that why you fell in love with me? Because of the Gift?" Sakura asked. "That without the Gift, you wouldn't have…" But her words were cut by his kiss.

"I would have. I still would have." He said after he pulled away. "Do not ever doubt my love for you. Gift or no Gift, I would still love you just the same."

"But how can you be so sure?" Sakura asked. "I'm not doubting your love, I'm just curious."

"Because I fell in love with you even before we met, even before my Gift responded to yours." Eriol cupped her cheek in one hand. "I fell in love with you for who you are, not because of your Gift, or mine."

"What if I fell in love with you because of my Gift?" Sakura asked.

"You're the only one who can answer that question." Eriol told her. "Did you?"

Sakura thought about it for a while then shook her head. "No, I didn't. Gift or no Gift, I would still love you just the same." She repeated his words and kissed him.

* * *

Sakura was reading the book about Clow, sitting against the shelf on the dusty floor in the deserted section of the library.

"Interesting choice of book." A familiar voice said, making her jump. She turned her head and saw Eriol standing behind her, peering down at the book.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura whispered in shock. He really had surprised her.

"I have to research something. What are you doing here with that?" He pointed at the book. "Surely you could find something better than that."

"I found it a few days ago and got curious." Sakura looked around worriedly, but there was nobody else around them and they were hidden from the rest of the library. "If people find us here…"

"Nobody ever comes here. Look at the dust. It's basically deserted." Eriol said. "Why are you reading about him?"

Sakura looked at the book. "I just want to know what the author thought of him, how he portrayed him. He was a very complicated man after all. Still is…" She looked at him pointedly.

"The author didn't know him at all. He was just some busybody who stuck his nose where it didn't belong and made assumptions after assumptions." Eriol said.

"I figured that much. Still make an interesting read though." Sakura was almost done with the book. Just a couple of more chapters left. She had been sneaking here during lunch time and read a chapter or two. "Now, go away. Leave me alone." She waved her hand at him in shooing movement.

Eriol rolled his eyes, but he left.

The book was a strange book, in Sakura's opinion. It tried to portray the kind of man Clow was. But, although Sakura didn't know Clow personally, she knew that there were so many things that the book got wrong, based on what she knew about his reincarnation. The author portrayed Clow to be this arrogant, heartless man who only wanted to get stronger in order to snatch that title of being the world's most powerful magician. But Sakura knew that wasn't the case. Clow, and Eriol, didn't want to be that. They genuinely wanted to learn, to satisfy their own personal curiosity, to know as much as possible. Getting stronger was an added bonus, but it certainly wasn't their main goal. They were definitely not arrogant either, although it was easy to misinterpret their self-confidence as arrogance, since they were really confident in themselves and their magic. Their actions and personalities didn't help either, since they were both very eccentric and complicated.

The author also talked about Clow's relationship with other people and mentioned that Clow wasn't interested in any kind of romantic relationship, which was true, but according to the book, it was because he didn't think anyone was good enough for him. While Sakura didn't know that for sure, knowing Eriol, she was quite certain that it wasn't the case. The author went even further by saying that the same concept also applied to Clow's friendships, how he chose to have friends in high places to gain more influence, which, to Sakura, was a ridiculous concept.

What fascinated Sakura the most was the fact that reading the book, it felt like she was reading about someone else who shared the same name with Clow Reed, but it was definitely not the man whom Sakura admired and respected, or his reincarnation, whom she loved and adored. All in all, in her own opinion, the author had tried, but failed, to give an accurate description of Clow.

Sakura wasn't saying this because she felt she knew better, but even she knew that a lot of the basic information were inaccurate. Eriol seemed to know the author, but didn't seem to like him, which was curious. She made a mental note to ask him more about it later.

* * *

"He was an author and he was interested in Clow. He asked for an interview and wanted to write about him, but Clow refused." Eriol told her.

"But then he went ahead with the book?" Sakura asked.

"He did, because of publicity." Eriol nodded. "He claimed that he was a friend of Clow. That was how he managed to get so many people to believe what he wrote. Add that to the fact that not a lot of people actually knew Clow personally, so they just ate up his words."

"That's not fair for Clow. Why didn't Clow say anything?" Sakura frowned.

"For what purpose? People would think what they want to think of him. Trying to defend himself wouldn't have made any difference." Eriol picked up the meat from the plate. "Besides, why does it matter what people think? The majority of them would end up disliking him either way."

Sakura was reminded of his own attitude towards Tomoyo when she was treating him badly years ago. "We can't change what people think about us, but we can choose how to react to it."

"Exactly." Eriol nodded as he chewed. "Clow chose not to react."

"People nowadays, at least my team, don't seem to know Clow or the cards though." Sakura said. Not even Chris seemed to be familiar with her cards.

"They don't even know what magic really is about." Eriol said. "Save for a few people, the young people nowadays don't even care about what it means to be a magician. They're treating it like it's some sort of superpower."

"Well, in a way, it is." Sakura said. "I'm not defending them, but you also have to consider the fact that magic allows them to be someone different, to do something beyond what normal people can do. It's almost like a superpower."

"I'm not against them thinking of magic as superpower, I'm just disappointed that they don't care enough to develop it and learn more about it."

"Young people are like that. It's the generation thing. Everything is instant now. Instant noodle, instant coffee, instant everything. We want result, fast. I'm like that too sometimes." Sakura smirked mischievously. "Maybe you're just old."

"Excuse me?" Eriol looked horrified. "Are you calling me an old man?"

"You act like one." Sakura pointed out, still smirking.

Eriol glared at her.

Sakura turned serious. "It's the same with magic. Take Syaoran and I. We train and develop our magic, but that's because Syaoran has his family and their traditions, which gave him a big responsibility. As for me, I have this old man who's teaching me how important it is to train and to learn more. The others, they don't have that kind of exposure."

Eriol agreed.

"If you really want them to learn, have you thought about taking in more students?" Sakura asked curiously.

"No. I have my hands full with the council right now and I want to focus on you." Eriol finished up his meal and stood up to rinse it in the sink.

Sakura also had finished eating and she took her own plate to the sink and handed them to him. "Do you even plan on doing that in the future?"

"I don't know yet." Eriol rinsed the plates and then put them in the dishwasher. "Why do you ask?"

"John told me that once the team is disbanded, he was thinking about taking in the girls as students. So I was thinking that if John could have more students, why can't you?" Sakura moved the leftover to airtight containers. She would heat it up for Eriol's lunch tomorrow.

"John is not married." Eriol pointed out. "He doesn't need to worry about making time to take his wife on dates or to romance her."

Sakura gave him a look. "This is why you're old. Saying silly things like that."

"You're the one who complained we don't go on dates often enough." He said pointedly. "And what's wrong with romancing my wife?"

"Okay, okay." Sakura said as she brought the leftover to the fridge.

"Do you really want me to stop romancing you?" Eriol asked her while he brought the dishrag to wipe the table.

Sakura looked at him. "Hm…" She looked thoughtful, but there was a small teasing smile on her face.

"Fine. I'll stop bringing flowers and whatnot. See how _you_ like it." He grumbled.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "As if you could stop doing those things. You won't even last five minutes without telling me how much you love me."

"Is that a challenge?" He narrowed his eyes.

Sakura looked at him challengingly. "Let's make it simple, husband. See which one of us would last longer without telling each other."

"Fine." Eriol said as he started wiping the table. "I spent a lifetime not saying that to anyone. Won't be that hard."

"Oh please… Once you started, you couldn't stop." Sakura smirked, remembering how he told her at every chance he got ever since they were younger.

"We'll see, wife. We'll see…" Eriol accepted the challenge.

A few hours later, in bed, they both said it at the same time.

"So, who's the winner?" Eriol asked.

"I think we both are. Not a lot of people could say it, you know..." Sakura said as she pulled him for a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too…" He told her as he kissed her. "Do you or do you not want me to romance you?"

"Please do." Sakura said as she snuggled up to him. "Don't ever stop doing that, no matter how old we get."

"As if I can stop doing that…" Eriol admitted.

Sakura smiled widely.


	8. Chapter 8

Sakura, Jess and Alice were in the meeting room, ready for their morning briefing, but Chris hadn't shown up yet.

"Maybe he's not even here today." Jess wondered out loud.

"What do we do then?" Alice asked.

"Let's just wait. Maybe he's just late." Sakura said.

Fifteen minutes later, the door opened and Chris showed up.

"Good morning everyone. Sorry I'm late. I had a quick meeting." Chris greeted the team. "Lord Cavendish will be joining us for field trip today. Follow me." He led them to the elevator. He swiped his access card and pressed the number seven. Once they had reached the seventh floor, Jess and Alice looked around in amazement since this was the first time they were here. Chris led them to John's office.

"You can go right in. He's waiting for you." John's secretary told them.

Chris knocked on the door. "Enter!"

Chris opened the door and gestured for everyone to enter. Stepping inside, Sakura was surprised when she saw who were in the room. John was leaning against his desk and Eriol was standing by the window. Sakura wondered what was going on. It wasn't like him at all to show himself like this, in front of her team, no less.

Eriol wasn't dressed in his usual outfit of suit and tie. He was wearing grey button down shirt, black jacket, and black jeans. Instead of the usual dress shoes, he was wearing a pair of walking boots on his feet. When Sakura saw him this morning, she had asked him about it. He told her that he was going out on the field today, but he didn't mention anything about joining her team. No wonder John was briefing them here. Eriol wouldn't go downstairs.

"Good morning everyone." John greeted them. "Your mission today was to retrieve an artifact." John started without any preamble. "Now, this mission is unique, in a way that this artifact is divided into three different parts. However, they have to be removed at the exact same time."

Sakura noted John didn't introduce Eriol, and Chris didn't introduce them either. Apparently they had discussed how they were going to play this.

"When we're out there, we have to maintain communication and make sure that we have the timing right." John continued. "The artifact is guarded, as most artifacts are. We believe that all three parts are guarded. If we failed to remove them at the same time, all three guardians would be activated."

"The three parts are located in different places and they're armed with traps. While we don't know what kind of traps are there, we're certain that as long as we get the timing right, all will end well. When we get there, we'll divide ourselves into three pairs. The three of us will each take one of you with us. Alice, you'll be with Chris. Jess, you're with me. And Sakura, you'll be going with him." John gestured to Eriol, acknowledging him for the first time since they started the briefing. "Any question?"

Nobody said anything.

"Perfect, You can go ahead and prepare yourselves. We'll meet you in the parking garage in half an hour." John dismissed them.

"Alright ladies, grab your stuff." Chris told them after they got back to the office area. "Since we won't be back until the end of the day, you might want to get your lunches too. See you downstairs at the parking garage."

"Wow! That sounds like, straight out of Indiana Jones movie." Jess commented as they walked across the lobby to the cafeteria to buy their lunches.

"Sounds dangerous." Alice agreed. "There are even traps and whatnot."

"I'm worried about you, Sakura. Alice and I will be with Lord Cavendish and Chris, but you'll be with that guy." Jess turned to her. "I mean, who even is that guy? Why is he joining us for this trip? And did you notice? He didn't say anything at all and we don't even know his name. But I feel like I've seen him around somewhere…"

"I'm sure it'll be okay, Jess." Sakura told her friend. Jess and Alice had seen Eriol a few months ago in the elevator. She hoped her friends wouldn't remember though. This was not the first time that they had to join forces with others in their field trips, so Sakura wasn't worried about them suspecting that Eriol was a High Priest.

"Hm, now that you mentioned it, I feel that I've seen him as well. Wonder if he works here too. He looks very young though." Alice said.

"In any case, you have to be very careful, Sakura. Don't let your guard down, okay?" Jess told Sakura.

"We'll be walking into a place filled with traps, Jess. I think all of us have to be very careful out there." Sakura pointed out.

"Hm, that's true." Jess nodded. "I wonder what kind of traps are there…"

They got to the food court and bought their lunches. Sakura got herself a ham and cheese sandwich, a bottle of water, and after a brief consideration, she also bought two cookies. Once they got their food, they made their way downstairs.

They arrived at the parking garage and found Chris already waiting for them.

"Chris, can I ask you something?" Jess said. "Do you even know that guy? It's just, he's going to be paired up with Sakura and we don't even know his name."

"I think Lord Cavendish knows what he's doing, Jess. It'll be fine." Chris said.

Sakura noted how Chris didn't answer Jess' question.

Jess was about to say something else, but the elevator door opened and the two High Priests stepped out into the parking garage. They joined the team and got into one of the company cars. Chris drove and Eriol sat in the passenger seat. John joined the ladies at the back.

They drove for about an hour. All the while, both John and Sakura noted that Jess and Alice were looking at Eriol curiously. But nobody said anything.

Once they had arrived, John briefed them again. "Stay vigilant and try not to get separated from your partners. Sakura, Jess, Alice, don't do anything rash."

Chris gave each pair a map with different markings. John told them which team was going which way.

"Once you find the artifact, contact the other teams. Don't touch anything, don't do anything. Wait until everyone is ready. Understood?" John asked. They all nodded.

"Be careful. We don't know what lies ahead." John gave his final instructions and then they went their separate ways.

"Why us?" Sakura asked after they were far enough from the rest. "And why didn't you say anything this morning?"

"John insisted." Eriol replied. "I thought of bringing the boys with me, three separate places and all, but John said that your team can handle it. I didn't tell you because the decision was last minutes. We just decided this morning."

"John deliberately put us together, didn't he?" Sakura asked.

"Actually it's my request. Since we don't know what kind of traps we'll be facing, I want you with me. You know I don't trust anyone else when it comes to your safety." Eriol told her. "But he would've done it anyway. It's safer this way. I can't pretend to be someone else with the other members of your team. Besides, we have quite a hike ahead of us. It would be so boring if I can't talk to my hiking partner."

"That's true. So, what kind of artifact is this?" Sakura asked curiously as they walked deeper into the woods.

"Just your usual run-of-the-mill artifact. The thing that made it unique, other than the three parts, is that it's considered as one of the oldest artifacts here in the UK."

"I didn't know that retrieving artifacts is part of your job." Sakura commented.

"It's not. It's originally Dracon's project, but he messed up. He sent a few teams and, well, let's just say it was a complete and utter mess. So I took over." Eriol told her.

Sakura's eyes widened. "You mean…"

Eriol just nodded.

"Oh my god… That's how you know about the traps?" Sakura asked in horror.

"Yes." Eriol said simply.

"And John? Why is John involved?" Sakura asked. "Seems a little overkill to have two High Priests involved."

"He's my buffer. It's easier to introduce me as his associate rather than… well, come to think of it, he didn't introduce me at all. And he also knows that for this one, we can't just trust anyone. So he wants to handle it himself too."

Sakura nodded. "I supposed if you already know how dangerous it is… But Chris and Alice could be in danger."

"Chris is capable of handing himself. As long as Alice listens to him, they'll be fine. We've assessed the danger and while they're all dangerous, the one assigned to Chris is the least dangerous route and we've briefed him thoroughly." Eriol said.

"Let me guess, we got the most dangerous one?" Sakura asked.

"We're lucky that way." Eriol confirmed. "Besides, I can't really put John in danger. If anything happened to him, I'd be stuck with this job forever."

Sakura looked at him in surprise. "You're so horrible!" She hit his shoulder. She knew he was joking though. Despite everything, Sakura knew Eriol cared about John too.

Eriol laughed slightly. "It's only fair though. Think about it, out of all three teams, ours is the only one with two experienced magicians. So I volunteered to take on the most dangerous route."

Sakura didn't want to talk badly about her team, but she had to admit he was right.

They continued walking until they reached a clearing. "Let's stop here. Eat lunch and then we'll hike. The place we're looking for should be up there. We can fly up there or walk. Your choice."

"Let's walk. I could use the exercise. You'd think I'd be losing weight with all these field trips, but I gained one kg in the past month alone." Sakura decided.

"You're just as beautiful as always though." Eriol grinned and kissed her cheek before she could react.

"We're at work, my Lord!" Sakura said in mock horror.

"Ah, my apologies, my love." Eriol was still grinning.

"I should report you for harassment." Sakura muttered.

Eriol laughed. They found a big log and sat down.

"Hm, let's see what my dear wife packed for me…" Eriol opened his lunch bag.

Sakura just shook her head as she took out her own sandwich.

"Onigiri!" Eriol said happily. He loved rice balls. Sakura had packed him three rice balls and an apple for lunch.

"It's nice out here, very quiet and peaceful." Sakura commented as she looked around. They were surrounded by trees and they could hear the sound of the birds chirping.

"I've always loved the countryside. One day I want to move to the countryside." Eriol said as he munched on his rice ball. "What do you think?"

"Hm… Yeah, that'd be nice." Sakura agreed. "Sounds very relaxing."

They chatted about moving to the countryside as they ate.

"Here, I got us some dessert." Sakura handed him a cookie. His eyes lit up and a big smile spread across his face.

"You're the best wife ever." Eriol said happily as he took a bite of his cookie.

"Really? How many wives have you had?" Sakura asked teasingly.

"What?" Eriol looked confused. "I don't mean it like that!" He quickly said.

Sakura laughed.

"You're so mean…" Eriol pouted slightly.

"I bought you cookie, didn't I?" Sakura ate her own cookie. "Your favorite too." She had gotten him double chocolate chip cookies.

"You can't bribe me with cookies." Eriol said, but he continued to eat his cookie.

"Oh please… I can bribe you with a single piece of candy. You don't stand a chance against cookies." Sakura said.

"That's supposed to be a secret!" Eriol said, horrified.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah…"

They finished their lunch and continued their journey.

"Should we get prepared for the traps?" Sakura asked, not sure when they should start worrying about them.

"Not yet." Eriol said. "There should be a cave here somewhere."

They continued walking and five minutes later, they saw the cave.

"This energy…" Sakura could feel something emitting from the cave.

"Looks like the guardian has been activated." Eriol said and took out his phone to contact John. "Have you got there?"

"Not yet. Soon though. Why?" John asked.

"The guardian has been activated here at our side. This means we don't need to worry about removing them at the same time, but now we'll have to deal with the guardians on top of the traps. Call Chris and warn him. Be careful, John." Eriol told his friend.

"Noted. Thanks for the warning." John said and hung up. He called Chris.

They summoned their staffs before they entered the cave.

"We have to proceed very carefully. Keep your guard up and stay behind me." Eriol told her. Sakura nodded and held her staff tightly in her hands.

They started walking into the cave. The cave was dark and they could hardly see anything. Eriol summoned a ball of light. He reached behind him and took her hand in his, knowing that the darkness would make her nervous.

"I'm okay, Hii. You need both hands. I'll be fine." Sakura told him. She gave his hand a squeeze and then let it go.

"I'll be here, okay?" Eriol reminded her.

"I know." Sakura nodded.

They walked deeper into the cave with the ball of light illuminating their way. Eriol was looking everywhere, trying to spot the traps, or anything suspicious. Behind him, Sakura crept along, holding her staff nervously. Suddenly, he heard a soft click and Eriol immediately took Sakura into his arms and brought her down as a series of arrows shot out from the walls, whooshing above them. They lay there for a minute or two, until everything was quiet. "You alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." Sakura told him. "You?"

"I'm okay. Must've triggered something." Eriol said as they got back to their feet after making sure that it was safe to do so.

"Jess mentioned this is like an Indiana Jones movie. I think that she might be right." Sakura commented as she brushed herself off.

"In any case, we'll have to watch our steps." Eriol told her.

They continued walking cautiously. Eriol's eyes darted everywhere and he listened carefully for any kind of sound, not wanting to be caught off guard.

Suddenly, there was a whoosh from their right. He grabbed his wife to protect her and the arrow missed him by inches.

Another whoosh and he saw another arrow heading towards them from behind Sakura. He waved his hand and the arrow changed direction, having been hit by a gust of wind, but he didn't see the one that was heading towards him from his back. He gasped as the arrow pierced his shoulder.

Sakura heard him and felt him tensing up slightly.

"I'm alright. Don't move." He assured her, gritting his teeth as pain flared from his shoulder. He listened for more arrows, but there was none. He let her go slowly.

Sakura gasped when she saw the arrow jutting from his shoulder. "Oh my god!" She exclaimed fearfully.

"I'm okay. You have to help me though. Get it out so that I can heal." Eriol told her. He sat down on the ground as the pain intensified.

Sakura went down with him. She reached for the arrow. "Ready?"

Eriol nodded and Sakura pulled the arrow out. He cried out and she dropped the arrow and immediately took him into her arms. "Shh… It's okay… You're okay."

They waited for a few minutes as he healed himself. Sakura gave him some water. "Alright?" She checked with him. He was sweating a little and she took a tissue from her bag and wiped his sweat.

"Yeah." Eriol handed the bottle back to her after he'd taken a few sips. Sakura took a few sips herself and put the water bottle back in her bag.

"I hope the others are okay." Sakura said, fearing for everybody's safety. "Why do we have to retrieve this artifact anyway? Can't we just leave it as it is?"

"We could, we have. But it was activated recently. There were reports of small scale earthquakes from the areas where the parts are, including this one. If we leave it as it is, who knows what's going to happen next." Eriol explained.

"Who activated it?" Sakura asked curiously.

"That, I have no idea. But I suspect someone accidentally triggered something." Eriol said. "The artifact could be activated by magic. So, whoever it is, they didn't even need to be near it to activate it. Come on. Let's just move on. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can get out of this place."

Sakura helped him up and they started walking again.

When a series of energy blasts were heading towards them. Eriol raised a shield. Luckily, they didn't encounter anymore arrow. He would take energy blasts over arrows any day.

"I think we're getting closer." Sakura said as they could feel the energy getting stronger. "What kind of guardian do you think it is?"

"No idea. We'll find out soon enough." Eriol said. They turned the corner and came to a clearing. In the middle of the room, there was a pedestal and on top of the pedestal, was some sort of a stone tablet.

"Is that the artifact? Where's the guardian?" Sakura looked around nervously.

Suddenly they heard a roar and a beast appeared from the side of the room.

"There it is…" Eriol said as he made a quick assessment of their opponent, who was stalking slowly towards them.

The beast lunged at them and Eriol jumped to the side. Sakura cast her Jump card and did the same. While she was unfamiliar with traps, she could handle herself in combat just fine.

They made a quick work of the beast, working in sync with each other.

"Do you think we should still wait for the others? Just in case?" Sakura asked as they stood in front of the pedestal.

"Let me call John." Eriol tried, but there was no reception. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out." He shrugged and reached for the tablet. He paused briefly and then lifted it up from the pedestal.

They heard rumbling and the ground started shaking. Eriol mumbled a spell and he tapped the ground with the bottom of his staff and just like that, the shaking stopped. He wasn't called the Master of the elements for nothing, Earth being one of the elements.

Sakura looked around. "Now, how do we get out of this place? If we go back where we came from, do you think the traps would still be there?"

"Only one way to find out." Eriol said and they started to make their way back out. Luckily, the traps seemed to have been deactivated and they managed to get out of the cave without any incident.

"Oh, thank god it's over!" Sakura said as they emerged to the open space. "What time is it?"

"Two forty five." Eriol replied. "I'll try John again."

John informed him that he and Jess had gotten their piece and so had Chris. "Is everyone okay?"

"Seems like it. How about you?" John asked.

"We're fine. See you back at the car then." Eriol hung up. "Everyone's okay." He informed Sakura.

"Oh, I'm glad!" Sakura said with relief. "That was one hell of a mission though."

Eriol took off his jacket to inspect the damage. "This is one of my favorite jackets!" He complained as he saw the gaping hole. He sighed and fixed the hole. He also fixed his shirt. "I want to go home." He said somewhat petulantly.

Sakura sighed. "You sound like a five years old, dear." She pointed out.

"A bath really sounds very nice." Eriol continued as if he hadn't heard her.

"That, I must agree." Sakura nodded. "Unfortunately, I still have to write that report. Lucky for you, you can just go home and take a nice hot bath."

"Tell that to the mountain of paperwork on my desk." Eriol put his jacket back on and they started walking. "Oh, wait."

"What is it?" Sakura asked, stopping beside him.

Eriol pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "To commemorate our first field trip together." He told her with a grin after he broke the kiss.

"We go on field trips together all the time though." Sakura said confusedly. This was hardly their first 'mission' together. They often went together with their guardians too.

"Not like this, not as part of our day job." Eriol told her.

"Our day job, right. Where you're technically my boss. Do you make it a habit of kissing your subordinate after a mission? Because I'm so going to report you for harassment." Sakura said, but she had a big smile on her face.

"Hm… That's for me to know, and for you to find out." Eriol said mysteriously.

Sakura stared at him in shock.

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" Eriol quickly said. "I'm not kissing anyone else. Just you."

"Good." Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Don't go around kissing anyone else. You know why?" She took a step forward towards him.

"Why?" Eriol asked, a lazy smile on his face.

"Because you're mine." Sakura said before she kissed him. Hard.

"Now I really want to go home." Eriol said after their kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the last chapter. Thanks for reading & leaving kudos. I really appreciate it.

Sakura and her team were in the middle of retrieving an artifact and this one was guarded by a group of soldiers wielding swords.

Chris was fighting them with his sword and Sakura was holding her own sword and had used The Fight card to aide herself, but her two other friends didn't have the necessary combat skills. Alice's spirit tried to protect her, but Jess was fighting with her own vines, which was pretty much useless against swords.

"A few more." Chris said breathlessly. Lucky for them, the soldiers didn't respawn once they were defeated. Now there were only three of them left in the field.

Sakura swung at one of them, cutting it in half. "Two more!" She yelled. One was still fighting Chris, the other was heading towards Jess.

"Jess, watch out!" Sakura yelled as she ran to her friend, sword swinging. The soldier turned to her and ducked its head and went low as it thrust its blade into Sakura, who didn't have time to evade the attack.

"Sakura!" Jess and Alice screamed in horror.

Sakura's eyes widened as she felt pain shot up from her chest. Alice's spirit blasted the soldier and it disappeared. Sakura fell to her knees, her own sword turned back into its key form.

"Shit!" Chris made a quick work of the last soldier before running towards Sakura.

Jess and Alice had reached her.

"Sakura! Oh my god!" Jess tried to help her friend.

"I… I'm okay." Sakura winced and held her wound. She could feel her magic started working furiously to help her.

"We need to get her to the hospital!" Jess told Chris as he approached them, panic on his face.

"No… No hospital…" Sakura shook her head.

Chris was racking his brain. Sakura needed a healer, but he didn't know one. "No, she needs a healer."

"What the hell is a healer?! She needs a doctor! We need to bring her to the hospital!" Jess said frantically.

"Chris…" Sakura said weakly. "Call… call him." Sakura was so glad that Chris knew about them. She wouldn't be able to explain it, not like this. She could feel her magic was trying to pull her under, to stop the wound from getting worse.

Chris nodded and took his phone out as he walked away. A secret was still a secret.

"Who's him?" Jess asked, but Sakura's eyes fluttered close and she passed out.

"Hello?" Henry, Eriol's assistant, answered the phone.

"Henry, it's Chris. I need to speak to Lord Hiiragizawa. Now." Chris said urgently.

"One second." Henry pressed the intercom. "My Lord, Christopher is on the line. He said he needs to speak to you." He told Eriol.

"Put him through." Eriol said as dread started filling him. There could only be one reason why Chris would call him. "What happened?" He asked immediately when Chris got on the line.

"Sakura is hurt, my Lord. She needs a healer." Chris told him.

"Where are you?" Eriol asked. "How far are you from the city?"

"Thirty minutes, give or take." Chris said.

"Give me your phone number." Eriol tried to remain calm, knowing that panicking wouldn't do anything right now. "How is she hurt? Is she conscious?"

Chris glanced briefly at Sakura. "She's lost consciousness. She's stabbed, my Lord." Chris informed him before giving Eriol his phone number.

Eriol's eyes closed briefly in a flinch. Stabbed. She was stabbed. He wrote down Chris' number. "I'll text you an address. I'll meet you there. Be quick, Chris." Eriol said before hanging up. He texted his address to Chris and then he left, telling Henry that he had an emergency.

Chris hung up. He went to the girls and then picked up Sakura from the ground.

"Who did you call?" Jess asked.

"Sorry, I can't tell you that. You don't have the clearance for that." Chris said as he started walking towards the car.

"Clearance? Sakura is hurt and you still worry about clearance?!" Jess asked in disbelief as she and Alice followed him to the car.

"There are still rules, Jess." Chris said shortly.

They reached the car and Chris laid Sakura down at the backseat. They got into the car and he put in the address that Eriol texted him to his phone's GPS. He had a feeling that it was their home address and putting it the car's GPS would leave a trace. He had told them that he would keep it a secret, so he would take every possible measure to do just that.

"Listen, I'm going to drop you off once we get back to the city. Please take a taxi back to the office. I'll meet you there as soon as I can. You'll be fully reimbursed for your expenses." Chris told the other two girls.

"What?! No!" Jess immediately objected. "My friend is hurt! I'm not going to…"

"That is an order." Chris said tersely.

"I cannot believe you! Sakura is hurt and all you care about is rules and clearance?!" Jess yelled at him from her place at the backseat.

"This is the way our world works. There are rules, rules that need to be followed." Chris said. "We've been trying to teach you that."

"Who cares about rules!" Jess asked angrily. "I'm not leaving her!"

"You have no choice in that matter. Go back to the office. I will meet you there." Chris said firmly.

"No! You and Sakura are so secretive about everything! Why is that?!" Jess asked. "Don't think I haven't noticed that!"

"Like I said, our world is full of rules and secrets." Chris said as it looked like Jess wasn't going to let it go.

"So, that's it? You two have been keeping secrets from us?!" Jess asked.

"Yes." Chris wasn't even going to deny it.

"How is Sakura aware of these rules?" Alice asked. "She's not much older than I am, so how did she know about these rules?"

"That's not my secret to share." Chris told them. "I'm sorry. I'm not at liberty to discuss anything with you."

"You've got to be kidding me…" Jess muttered. "We're friends! Are you saying that we should keep secrets from each other?"

"Especially from each other." Chris said. "In time, you'll learn. Secrets are valued and trust is very rare in our world."

"I've been sharing everything with you guys and you've been keeping everything from me?" Jess asked, hurt.

"That's your choice to share and our choice not to. You still have to learn a lot about our world, Jess. The magic world is not all about magic and wonders. It's actually full of betrayal, deceit, and secrets. One slip and you're done." Chris told her.

"What do you mean?" Alice asked curiously.

"In magic, even something as simple as your name could be used against you. Once a magician gets a hold of your name, they're just a spell away from putting a curse on you." Chris gave them an example.

The two girls looked shocked.

"Is, is Chris not your name?" Alice finally asked.

"It is. It's just an example. Curses are less common now, so we don't really hide our names anymore. But I'm just giving you an example as to how bad it could be and how important a secret is." Chris assured them. "I'm sorry, but this is the harsh truth. The reality of our world."

The two didn't say anything as they processed it.

Once they reached the city, Chris stopped the car. "I'm going to drop you off here."

They silently got out of the car and Chris drove off.

* * *

Eriol was pacing the front porch. He tried to stay still, but even he was aware that he was panicking.

"You have to calm down." Clow said.

Eriol turned to look at him. "Easy for you to say."

"Panicking will not help her. You know it. Her magic is strong enough to sustain her." Clow told him.

Eriol took a deep breath and nodded. "I know, I know." He calmed himself down.

Once he was calm, Clow left and Eriol heard a car pulling up at the gate. Eriol opened the gate and the car drove up to the house, pulling to a stop in front of him.

Chris jumped down. "My Lord." He said shortly before opening the back door.

Eriol went to get Sakura. It took everything in him to remain calm when he saw her blood soaked clothes. "Where are the others?" He asked, noticing that Sakura was alone at the back.

"I dropped them off at the city. I don't think they need to know." Chris told him.

"Good job, Chris. I've got it from here. Go back to the office, debrief your team, tell John what happened." Eriol told the older man. "And thank you."

Chris nodded and then he got back onto the car and left.

"You'll be okay, love." He whispered as he carried her inside, not knowing if it was for her, or his own benefits. He had briefly assessed her wound and could tell her magic was working to protect her, but he needed to heal her as soon as possible.

The guardians were both waiting worriedly, but they didn't follow their Master upstairs, knowing that Eriol would need to concentrate.

Once upstairs, Eriol laid her down on the bed and waved his hand to remove her shirt. He flinched as he saw the wound. The bleeding had stopped, but there was blood all over her chest. It was all red and Eriol had to force himself not to focus on it. He put aside his feelings, his own emotions, and focused on healing her instead.

He took off his jacket and sat down beside her. His hand glowed red and he started healing her. Sakura's magic immediately recognized his and it pulled back, allowing his magic to work.

A few minutes later, Sakura was starting to come to. The first thing she noticed was pain. "Ugh…" She groaned softly.

"Shh… It's okay, Saku. It's okay. You're okay. Don't move." Eriol told her soothingly. He held her down gently so that she wouldn't move and disrupt the healing process.

"Eriol…?" Sakura was confused, but then everything came back to her. The artifact, the soldiers, getting stabbed and telling Chris to call him. "Oh god…"

"It's okay. You're okay now." Eriol told her gently.

Sakura stayed still and let him finish. She watched him closely. His expression was closed off. However, Sakura could see something underneath. "Eriol…" She wanted to reach out to him, but he held her down firmly.

"I'm almost done, love." He told her. It took him a few more minutes, but he healed her completely. He pulled back his magic and Sakura immediately reached for him.

"Easy, Saku. Easy…" He helped her up.

Sakura wrapped her arms around him. "I'm okay." She told him. "I'm okay, Eriol." She held him tightly. "It's alright now."

"Why are…" He wanted to ask why she was comforting him, but he couldn't finish his sentence as he broke down. He had been holding back, focusing on healing her, but now he couldn't hold back anymore and he wrapped his own arms around her as he started shaking. "Saku… Saku…" He kept repeating her name over and over again as tears started to flow down his face. He almost lost her. He wasn't there to protect her and she got stabbed. His biggest and worst fear almost came true.

Sakura was shocked as she felt him shaking and then even more so when she felt wetness on her shoulder and heard him calling her name in sobs. ' _Oh god…_ ' Sakura realized what was happening. He was always calm and collected but right now, he was breaking down in her arms. Sakura had never seen him cry, and it hurt her more than the stab wound did. It hurt her more than anything.

"It's okay, Eriol. Shh… It's okay, dear… I'm okay." Sakura continued to comfort him, stroking his hair soothingly as her own tears started to roll down her cheeks. The reality of the situation slowly dawning on her. She was stabbed and she almost died.

A few minutes later, when he started calming down, Sakura pulled back and looked at him. She reached to wipe the tears form his cheeks and then she kissed him gently. "I love you."

Eriol managed a soft smile. "I love you too. I'm sorry for being selfish. You're hurt and I couldn't control myself."

Sakura shook her head. "No, you're not being selfish." She cupped his cheek and he leaned into her touch. "I'm okay now."

Eriol pulled her back into his arms. "I cannot lose you, Sakura…" Eriol said. "I won't survive that."

"I'm here… It's alright now." She held him just as tightly.

A few minutes later, he helped her clean up and get changed to her pajamas. He then insisted that she rest.

"What about my team?" Sakura asked. "Where are they?"

"Back in the office. Chris dropped them off somewhere before coming here." Eriol said. "He kept our secret."

Sakura nodded. "We owe him then."

He agreed. "We do, but don't worry about that. Just get some rest, ok?"

"Stay with me?" After what happened, she didn't want him to be alone right now.

"Of course." He nodded. "I'm not going anywhere." He held her hand.

"Where are the boys?" Sakura asked. They must've known.

"Downstairs. Do you want to see them?" He asked and she nodded. Eriol got up and called the guardians.

"Sakura!"

"Mistress!"

The guardians went to her and Sakura held them.

"I'm okay, boys." She assured them as Eriol sat down on the bed.

"You got everyone worried." He said as Sakura's cards flew out from her bag and surrounded them.

Sakura smiled and assured her cards that she was okay. She looked around her, her husband, her guardians, her cards… Then she thought about her father, her brother and her other guardian back in Japan. Her family.

* * *

Eriol insisted that she stay in bed as he made her dinner and brought dinner to bed. He watched her as she ate. "Have you eaten?" Sakura asked.

Eriol hesitated and it was enough to answer her question. "Eriol!"

"I don't have much of an appetite." He admitted.

"But you have to eat." Sakura started getting up. "Let's eat together."

"No, I'll eat. Just finish your food, okay? I'll eat." He said.

Sakura looked at him. "Promise me."

"That's hardly necessary…"

"Promise me." Sakura said stubbornly.

He sighed. "I promise."

With that, Sakura continued eating.

After she finished, he went downstairs to wash the dishes and eat something quickly. Then he went back upstairs, not wanting to be apart from her for too long.

"I'm going to resign." Sakura told him as he sat down with her.

He looked at her in surprise.

"I wanted to join the team because I thought I could learn something, and I did. But on top of that, it was also pretty fun to spend time with them. But after what happened today…" Sakura remembered his reaction, how he broke down and cried. She sat up straighter and reached to touch his face. "I'm not going to put you through that again. I also thought about Dad, Touya, the boys, Yukito, Yue… It's time to grow up. No more playing around, no more joining some other teams just for fun." Sakura paused. "Besides, you're going to pull me out anyway, aren't you?"

"Yes." He admitted. "I can't let you go back out there without me or the guardians. I'm sorry."

Sakura nodded. "I know."

"When you're with your team, I can't protect you, Saku. We're lucky that Chris got you to me in time. A little longer and…" He didn't want to think of it.

"You can't protect me forever, Hii. One day, one day I'll grow old and I'm not going to live forever. You can't protect me from that." Sakura said softly.

"I can't, but your cards can, and will." Eriol told her.

Sakura was stunned. "I'm sorry?"

"You won't grow old, Saku. The cards will protect you from that. Just like the guardians and me, you're immortal, well, sort of, but not invulnerable." Eriol explained.

Sakura just stared at him, her mouth gaping slightly.

"Your cards need your magic to survive, so their magic will grant you near immortality. Surely you've noticed how Clow lived for a few centuries?" He asked and Sakura just nodded dumbly. He continued talking. "I have my own way to do that, just like Clow did. But for you, it's your cards. They will die if you die, so they will protect you. Their magic and yours are strong enough for that. I've made sure of that too."

"When.. when were you going to tell me?" Sakura asked.

"It never came up in a conversation. I mean, it's not like I could start talking about that out of nowhere. You're still young. You will continue to grow older for now, but one day, you'll stop aging when your magic is fully mature and stable."

"Oh my god…" Sakura covered her mouth with her hands. "How, how about you?"

"I can stop aging anytime I want, so I'll just match your age." Eriol said. "There were rumours about Clow having gained the key to immortality. They weren't rumours. He _had_ gained immortality. Being him, so have I."

"But he... died?' Sakura asked confusedly.

Eriol nodded. "He chose to die so that you could become the new Cardmistress."

Sakura gaped at him. "What?"

"He saw you in his visions and he wanted you to be the new Cardmistress. So he chose to die because he knew to achieve that, he had to divide his soul into two. Technically he didn't die, since I'm here now." Eriol told her.

"Back up… Clow chose to die? But why? I mean, he had the cards, he didn't have to die. Why?" Sakura was confused.

"For you and the cards." Eriol said. "He saw that you're good for the cards and vice versa. He also wanted that for the cards. He loved you and the cards."

Sakura was at loss of words.

"You don't need to worry about any of it. It's just technicality. Like I said, Clow didn't actually die, since I'm right here." He said as he held her hand. "I didn't plan to tell you, but given the circumstances…" Eriol gave her hand a squeeze. "You must know, Sakura, that it was all worth it. I have died for you and I will do it again in a heartbeat because you are worth my life." He brought her hand to his lips.

"So, we're both…?" Sakura was still in shock.

"Immortal, yes. But not invulnerable. That, you must remember." Eriol said.

"I…" Sakura was speechless.

"Did I not tell you, Saku?" He asked as he pulled her close. "I'll love you forever."

Sakura closed her eyes. "I'll love you forever too." This whole immortality thing was hurting her head. She would need some time to wrap her head around it, but this, this she knew without a doubt. "But please don't go die on me. I'm not going to able to survive that either."

"Remember my promise? As long as there's still life in me, I'll always come home to you, Sakura. And you better believe that I will fight for my life, to come home to you." He said as he held her tighter.

"Good. That's good." Sakura said. After a few seconds, she let go and looked into his eyes. "Even if you end up breaking all of your other promises, I want you to keep that one. You understand?"

"I understand." He said and then he kissed her.

* * *

Sakura showed up at John's office two days later. She had rested at home all day yesterday and Eriol even had taken a day off too, despite her insistence that it was absolutely unnecessary. He had stubbornly refused to leave her, so she just sighed and let him pamper her for the day.

"How are you doing?" John asked after Sakura sat down across from him. "I'm sorry for what happened."

"I'm doing fine, John. Thank you. And it's not your fault. It was an accident." Sakura smiled at him.

"What can I do for you today, Sakura?" John asked.

Sakura took an envelope from her bag and handed it over to John. "I'm here to give you my two weeks notice. Also to make a request. While I'm still going to work for the next two weeks, I wouldn't be joining the team in the field anymore."

John nodded. "Of course. May I ask though, is this your decision or his?"

"Mine." Sakura said. "He would have done it anyway, but this is my decision. Please don't get me wrong, I love working with my team and I've learned a lot from everyone, you included. But after what happened… I can't do it anymore. Not to him, my guardians, my Dad, Touya…"

"Fujitaka knows?" John asked, surprised.

Sakura shook her head. "We don't see the need to worry him unnecessarily. But if anything had happened, if Chris hadn't gotten me to Eriol in time, things could've turned out so differently."

John nodded. "I understand. Thank you for giving me the two weeks notice. I appreciate it. You won't be joining them in the field anymore. To be honest, this project is coming to an end anyway. Like I've told you, this team is a temporary setup. But I truly am sorry that it has to end this way for you." John said and then he smiled softly. "I hope that going forward, this incident will not affect our friendship."

"Of course not." Sakura told him firmly. "We've been friends even before this whole thing even started. I'm very grateful for the opportunity that you've given me."

After her talk with John, Sakura went back downstairs to meet her team. Jess and Alice were both very surprised to see her.

"Sakura!" They both hugged her. "We're so worried about you! Are you okay?"

Sakura smiled and assured her friends. "I'm okay."

"Chris told us you were helped by a healer. He said it's some sort of a magic doctor." Jess said. "That's why he didn't bring you to the hospital."

Sakura just nodded. "Yes." She didn't emphasize further. "Oh, I actually need to talk to Chris for a bit. I'll talk to you soon, ok?"

Sakura knocked on Chris' door.

"Hi, Sakura. Take a seat. How are you feeling?" Chris asked.

"I'm fine." Sakura sat down. "I want to thank you for everything. We owe you, both of us. If you hadn't gotten me to him when you did…" Sakura knew that by now, Chris would've figured out that Eriol was a healer.

Chris shook his head. "You don't owe me anything. You're one of my team members and I'm just doing my job as your team leader. I'm glad to see that you're alright."

"I've also handed in my resignation letter. I'm still going to be here for the next two weeks, but I won't be joining you in field trips anymore." Sakura told him.

"Yes, I figured as much." Chris nodded. "The rest of the team, especially Jess, are pretty upset about the whole thing, which is understandable. They were very worried about you, but I couldn't tell them anything. Jess had wanted to take you to the hospital and had protested loudly when I told them that I couldn't take them with me. So, I had to tell them that I was taking you to a healer. But of course, I didn't mention anything else. They know we've been keeping secrets from them, but they just can't understand why. Then I realized that their world is so different than ours." Chris paused. "I think it's going to be difficult for them to accept that we live in a world like this. Soon, you'll be gone and not long after that, the team will be disbanded. Lord Cavendish told me that he's thinking about taking them in as students, but I can't help but feel that maybe, it would be better for them if they don't know anything about our world. Let them live blissfully unaware of the kind of world we have."

Sakura thought about his words. "That's not for us to decide. Yes, they grew up in a different world. But at the end of the day, they'll have to be the ones who decide whether they want to be a part of our world or not. Something that neither of us had the choice in, given our circumstances."

"Did you ever regret it, Sakura? Being a part of this world." Chris asked curiously.

Sakura shook her head. "No, never. This is who I am, this is where I'm supposed to be. I can't imagine myself without my magic. How about you?"

"Not a chance." Chris grinned. "This world is full of secrets, lies and other bad stuff, but this is my world. This is all I know. So…" He shrugged.

Sakura laughed lightly. "I learned a lot in the past few months. We might not deal with the politics and whatnot, but looking at those two, I realized how different we are. It was an eye opening experience for me." Sakura said. "Well, if there's nothing else, I'll go join the others now. I haven't told them that I'm resigning."

* * *

Eriol opened the front door and walked into his house.

"I'm home!" He announced. But the house was quiet. "Sakura?" He knew she should be home, seeing that it was already seven o'clock. He went to the kitchen, but there was nobody there. He peered into the living room, empty. "Kero?" The guardian who was usually playing video game was nowhere to be seen.

Eriol made his way upstairs and went to the bedroom. When he opened the door, he saw Sakura lying in bed, her back to him. At first he thought she was asleep, but then he realized, she was being very still, too still. "Saku?"

Eriol quickly approached the bed and turned her over and he paled. The front of her shirt was covered in blood. There was so much blood that she was practically lying in it, in the pool of her own blood. "Sakura!" He tried to wake her up, but she just lay there, unmoving. Eriol's hand glowed red as he tried to heal her, but deep down, he knew it was too late. He was too late. "No …" He sobbed as tears started to stream down his cheeks. "Don't leave me… Please don't leave me…" He pleaded as he held her lifeless body in his arms.

But she wasn't waking up. She wasn't going to, not anymore. He couldn't protect her and he had lost her.

"No!" Eriol shot up in bed. He was covered in sweat and was breathing heavily. He could also feel hot tears on his cheeks.

"Hii?" Sakura was woken up by his shout. She quickly pulled him into a hug. She held him and rubbed his back. "It's okay. It's just a dream. It's alright now." She told him soothingly. "It's alright…"

A couple of minutes later, Eriol wiped his tears and pulled away. "Sorry I woke you up again." He apologized.

Ever since she got stabbed two weeks ago, he had been having nightmares almost daily. She did too, for the first few days or so. After that, her nightmares slowly went away, but his didn't. Sakura knew she'd made the right decision to leave, but she regretted that it had taken her getting stabbed for that and now he was the one who had to deal with the ramifications of what happened.

"No, I'm sorry…" Sakura told him. "I shouldn't have joined the team in the first place. Should've listened to you." She remembered how he hadn't wanted her to join the team, but she was being stubborn about it and selfish too. "I was being so selfish and now you're having nightmares. You're always the one who get hurt because of me. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. You did the right thing by joining the team. What happened, it was unexpected. Neither of us saw it coming." He told her. He had calmed down now.

"But…" Sakura looked at him tearfully.

"Tell me, did you enjoy it?" Eriol asked, looking her in the eyes.

Sakura nodded. "I did, but you're the one who have to deal with the consequences of what happened."

"It's just dreams, Saku. They will go away after a while. But the experience that you got, the friendship that you built with them, it will last. Don't ever regret it, okay?" He held her shoulders.

Sakura nodded. He was right. The past few months, Sakura gained some new experiences, learned some valuable lessons about the magic world, and formed new friendships. But she still felt guilty over what happened.

"You don't worry, okay? I'm going to listen to you and I won't do anything rash again. We have more than a lifetime together and I'm going to spend every single day with you." Sakura said as she rested her cheek on his chest. "Come to think about it, forever is a long time…"

"Not long enough." He replied and wrapped his arms around her. "Even forever is not long enough."

"Then in that case, I'll love you forever and a day." Sakura told him.

Eriol smiled widely. "Forever and a day."


End file.
